


Supernatural Kind of Wonderful

by wannaliveindeansdimples



Category: Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - High School, Artist Castiel, Best Friends, Dean has a Panty Kink, Drummer Dean, F/M, Family Feels, Friends to Lovers, Inspired by a Movie, Kinda, M/M, Masturbation in Shower, Mechanic Castiel, Pining Dean, Slow Build Castiel/Dean Winchester, Slow Burn, cas is keith, dean is watts, gabriel and charlie are kids, some kind of wonderful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-08-10 03:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 24,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7828309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wannaliveindeansdimples/pseuds/wannaliveindeansdimples
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Cas have been best friends since forever. Dean has been falling for Cas as long as he can remember. The problem? Cas has recently developed an interest in a girl named Meg who has trouble written all over her. Dean never really minded pining over Cas, but watching him fall for someone else makes him wonder if even their friendship can survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gaelicblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gaelicblue/gifts).



> This is for [PEACHES!!!](http://gaelicblue.tumblr.com) And it's been a long time coming. Hope I did it justice!
> 
> I will try to up date once a week. It's technically still a WIP, but it's based on a movie, so it's all plotted out, I just have to finish the second half. However, since it has been FOREVER since I posted anything and I miss all you lovelies, here is chapter uno. There are probably 3 more chapters written and there'll be 8-12 total, I think. 
> 
> I was feeling kinda bad about my summary and then I read the summary for the movie and felt lots better: _When Keith goes out with Amanda, the girl of his dreams, Amanda's ex-boyfriend plans to get back at Keith. Meanwhile, Keith's best friend, tomboy Watts, realizes she has feelings for Keith._ Um. Someone doesn't understand the point of the movie.
> 
> Anyway, this used to be one of my watch every single day after school movies. I don't still love it as much, but the kiss is still one of the best on screen kisses ever, imo. I have not stuck to the absolutely quotably delicious lines of dialog that I love so much. I couldn't take those for my own. I've rebranded them a bit and I hope they hold up.
> 
> More tags, a rating, and characters added as the story progresses.

Playing the drums made Dean feel whole. Sometimes, they were the only thing that did.

Except Cas, of course. As he banged the drums in front of him so hard he worked up a sweat, Dean tried not to think about that in too much detail beyond that Cas was his best friend. Cas was an artistic, socially-stunted misfit like Dean himself, they spent most of their free time together, and that was the important part. Drumming was when Dean let all the painful, shitty parts of life go. He spent enough time thinking about Cas as it was.

Thinking of Cas now, though, made Dean realize it was time to meet him at the repair shop.

\---

Cas worked his short shift at the repair shop, and then started the walk home. His route took him through the train yard not too far from his house. One engine was slowly pulling out of the yard and, as he so often did, he decided to play chicken with the slow-moving machine. He won, ignoring the blare of the horn as the engineer freaked out the way they always did, then slapped his hand against the handles going past him.

He’d been working on a painting before he left school, so his hands had been stained before he even got to work. They usually were, either from paint or from engine grease and he couldn’t find it in him to care. He wasn’t sure he’d know himself without it.

Just past the trains, he had to pass Meg’s house. He’d only recently started paying attention to her, primarily since she started dating Dick Roman. Dick was arguably the richest, most popular, and most evil student at their high school. Meg Masters, on the other hand, lived as Cas and Dean did—on the literal wrong side of the tracks.

At first he’d told himself he was only curious about why Dick was coming around. It was strange to see them together. Then when it became obvious at school that they were an item, though, he kept looking. Meg was quite beautiful. He could see what Dick saw in her.

When he got into the house, the smaller of his two younger siblings, Charlie, was playing with her sticker collection, making them fight each other to the death. He smiled at her, wiggling his fingers under her chin, then continued on his way.

His mom, Becky, greeted him and then asked when he was going to get his hair cut.

“I got it cut, Mom,” he lied.

Before she could respond, Charlie made a smart-assed remark that turned his mother’s exasperation onto her youngest child and away from him, giving him time to escape. He managed three steps on the stairs when his father’s voice called his name from the living room.

Cas sighed and stepped back down. “Yeah, Dad?”

“There’s a bunch more of these college brochures that came in. We need to look through ‘em. Look,” his dad—Chuck—said, smiling. “Co-ed phys-ed!”

Cas gave him a vague smile. “That’s great, um, can we do this later?”

Chuck frowned. “Cas, I’m not trying to be a hardass here. It’s just you have the chance to be the first man in this family not to have to wash his hands after a day’s work!”

Cas, who had been lightly holding the doorway, held out one grease-stained hand, eyebrows raised. His father sighed and Cas continued up the stairs. “Co-ed phys-ed,” he heard his father say as he did so. He rolled his eyes.

Naturally, given the way his day was going, when he finally made it to his room, his little brother Gabriel was sitting on the floor, going through his very expensive and extensive album collection.

“Hi! I’m looking for [that song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuLyBL14KTI) about that guy who wants to be his mom because his dad’s turned him into a drag queen? Do you know what song I’m talking about?”

“Gabriel, get the hell out of my room.”

“Bro!” Gabriel said, mock affronted.

“Get the hell out of my room!” Cas said, grabbing Gabriel’s arm and trying to yank him off the floor.

“Is this a side effect of being a social pariah or what?” Gabe gasped out as Cas attempted to drag him out the door.

“Mom!” Gabriel howled, pretending pain.

Cas shoved him through the door, but Gabe popped back through. “If I get a black and blue mark, you dick, you’re dead!” Then he slammed the door on his way out.

Cas rolled his eyes, collapsing on his bed with a sigh. How nice it would be to have a peaceful family to come home to—or better yet, no family. He immediately felt guilty at that thought, as he realized that Dean probably wished he had parents and siblings who paid too much attention to him... instead of too little.

***

When Dean got to the garage, he realized almost immediately that Cas wasn’t working. He tried to just shake it off, but he was a little worried. Not that Cas wasn’t at work—he didn’t work everyday, though he did most days—just the fact that this was the second time recently when Cas had forgotten to tell Dean he wasn’t working.

Dean always came up to the station when Cas was working. It was an unwritten rule they had. Now Dean had made two trips to the gas station without Cas being there when he showed up. It wasn’t like Cas not to keep Dean updated. Dean didn’t know what was going on, but he was almost sure something was.

When he got back home, he immediately grabbed the phone and lay back on his bed in the corner, to stare at the mural Cas had painted of them a few years ago. As Cas’s number rang, a small smile played on Dean’s face at the sight of the two of them depicted in the painting.

“Hello?” It was Cas’s dad.

“Oh, hi, Mr. S. Is Cas around?”

“Let me go and see. How you doing, Dean? You got your college plans all figured out?” Chuck asked. Dean could tell he was climbing the stairs by the change in the noise level.

“Sure do,” Dean said, neglecting to mention that the plan was, he wasn’t going.

“Good! Maybe you can talk some sense into Cas here,” he said.

“Hello?” Cas said in momentary confusion as his father handed him the phone.

“Hey, man, it’s me,” Dean said, keeping emotion out of his voice.

“Hey—oh, shit! Dean. I’m so sorry. You went to the gas station, didn’t you? Fuck, I had to trade with Garth and I totally forgot to tell you.”

Dean relaxed tension he hadn’t realized he’d had in his neck and shoulders.

“Yeah, man, what the hell?” he teased. “That’s twice this month. You getting senile already, old man?”

“Dean, I’m eight months younger than you.”

Dean scoffed. “Whatever, dude. I’ll always be younger and cooler than you.”

“You’re—”

Dean never got to find out what he was because he could hear Gabriel bellowing at Cas from the hallway.

“That the dinner bell?”

“Yes. Sorry. I’ll call you after, okay?”

“Sure thing.”

Dean hung up, resolving to get Cas to tell him what was up. First, he needed some food. Cas usually ordered in at the garage. Looked like Dean would have to scrounge something on his own tonight.

***

Cas watched in incredulous distaste as his brother tried to convince his mother that he had a bruise.

“ _Moooom_! I can’t even feel my arm!”

“That suggests a problem with your circulation,” Charlie said. “Perhaps a high fiber diet and less time on the phone would help.”

Gabriel glared at Charlie, but knew he’d earn his father’s wrath by going after his sister. “Thank you, Charlie. That’s... helpful,” he said with a fake smile.

When their mother insisted she couldn’t see anything, Gabriel got angry.

“Well, then you need some glasses!” Gabriel snapped. He huffed, knowing which target he _could_ go after. “You and Dad act like everything revolves around Cas and I’m sick of it! You have no idea what it’s like to be related to the weirdest guy in a huge school! You guys think he’s the good little soldier, but he’s a freak!”

“Excuse me,” Cas said softly, knowing Gabriel’s words were at least partially the truth. He stood up, throwing down his napkin and leaving before more could be said.

He ran to the stairs, grabbing the cordless phone on his through the den. His thumb was dialing Dean’s number by memory before he was even halfway up the steps to his room. It rang twice before it was picked up and there was a shout on the other end. The person wasn’t yelling into the phone, but rather to the other people of the house, telling them to “Shut the fuck up!” Cas chuckled and shook his head.

“Hey, Cas. Some dipshit took the phone out of my room and I had to enter no man’s land.”

It was what Dean called their living room and the familiarity made Cas smile. “It’s okay, Dean. I just left dinner because Gabriel was telling mom and dad how he had no feeling left in his arm because the little fucker broke into my room and was going through my records when I got home.”

“No respect in these kids today, man, I’m telling you,” Dean said, but Cas heard the mocking in his tone.

“Yeah, yeah. You let your brothers in to play with your drums?” Cas asked, knowing the answer.

“Fuck no! Only if they wanna die. These drums are my baby.”

“I thought your car was your baby?” Cas asked, lying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Yeah, well, I’m a polyamorous kinda guy when it comes to inanimate objects, Cas.”

Cas could hear the grin and it made him grin too. “The third grade was good to me.”

“Yeah, yeah, ya sap. Good thing you were so chivalrous to that little girl or we never would have met.”

“Well, that assbutt shouldn’t have knocked her down,” Cas said, still somewhat annoyed on the little girl’s behalf—though he suddenly realized she was now a teenager just like them. Weird.

They reminisced only briefly before Dean moved the subject onto his latest drum project. Cas listened with half an ear. Try as he might, he could never absorb all the musical knowledge Dean had tried to impart to him. Instead, his mind wandered to Meg.

He wasn’t sure why he had become so fascinated by her. He supposed most people would think it was because she was beautiful, but he really felt he was much less shallow than that. He hoped he was, at any rate.

Really, Cas thought it was partially the idea that someone from their side of town—from his and Dean’s side of town—deserved better than Dick Roman. Someone who, like them—though, if he was honest, Dean much more so than himself—had struggled and done without and didn’t have the same advantages that rich, lazy shitheads like Dick had... it wasn’t fair for them to get stuck in the web of evil that Dick spun wherever he went.

“—new felts for my hi-hat and the snare needs a new batter head, but other than that, the set’s almost perfect now,” Dean was saying.

“I need to come hear you play soon. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, man, where you been lately?”

Cas thought about the drawings of Meg he’d done over the past week, but what he said was, “Family stuff. You know.”

For Dean, fortunately, that was a good enough answer and they talked of other things until Cas couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you haven't seen the movie and would like a little taste of what the beginning of the previous chapter actually looked like, or if you have and you'd like a refresher, [have a look](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Po8Ks41Jo). Also because you need to hear that song at least once. Good grief, Misha Collins would have been a great Keith. And Jensen Ackles a good Watts, come to that. Oh, and the song I mentioned in the last chapter, did anyone catch it? It's Mary by the Death Riders, which was played during the SPN episode "Skin" and it's not *quite* as Gabriel describes (also not the song description from the actual movie, though it's close). It is not a song for the faint of heart or the easily triggered by childhood abuse trauma. But if you like dark fucked up thing, it might be for you. Without further blathering, I give you chapter 2.

The following morning, Dean woke up early, as he often did, to the sound of fighting from the house across the way and hammering in the building a few doors down. Sometimes the fighting was in a different house than it was coming from that day. Sometimes it was coming from his own house. Mostly, though, he just ignored it.

He threw on his standard “Don’t Fuck With Me” attire from his small but adequate wardrobe of similar outfits and grabbed his car keys. He took his showers at night so he had plenty of time to get over to Cas’s house in the morning. Sometimes he got them coffee, but he was a little light on funds this week. His brother had needed new shoes and Dean was the only one who’d had the cash. He was trying to cut down on the stealing. More to lose these days.

His heartrate sped up, as it always did, when he got within a few blocks of Cas’s house. He’d lost count of how long he’d been in love with Cas by now, but it felt like always. Maybe it was before puberty or maybe not, but it didn’t seem to be going away. Cas didn’t really date much, so that made it a little easier, but Dean suspected that little reprieve from pain was almost over. He’d noticed Cas getting broody lately and drawing pictures Dean didn’t get to see.

That probably meant there was someone he liked. It was probably a girl. The idea definitely made Dean’s stomach burn. Why couldn’t Cas feel the same way Dean did, dammit?

Dean glanced down at his thrift shop clothes, as he pulled into Cas’s driveway. “Yeah, right. Like Cas deserves a deadbeat loser like me,” he muttered to the holes in his jeans.

The worst part was that sometimes it even felt like maybe Cas did feel the same way—a lingering look here, an unnecessary touch there—but it was always fleeting.

He plastered on a smile as Cas opened the front door, calling over his shoulder to someone inside as he did so. Once Dean got a good look at Cas’s face, though, the smile became genuine, despite the longing he felt in his whole being. He had Cas in his life. That was all that mattered.

***

Dean wove them in and out of traffic and then in and out of pedestrian traffic in the school parking lot. He maneuvered his Impala like it was a much smaller vehicle and Cas would never know how he did it. Cas was so used to it that he mostly dozed, sunglasses firmly in place, until Dean came around and leaned into the window to talk to him.

“Come on, Mr. Sunshine. Are you even aware that you’re in the presence of greatness?” Dean asked as Cas opened the door. “My driving would rival any Formula One yahoo over in France or wherever. It’s gonna get even better when I’ve got a driver’s license, just you wait!”

Cas laughed and shook his head, following Dean to the long, concrete steps that led to the school building. Shifting his small backpack to his other arm, Cas gave Dean a sidelong look.

“You don’t have any books with you?”

Dean looked all over himself, as if the books might be hiding in his clothes. When he looked inside the front of his jeans, Cas gave him an exasperated eye roll and huffed a laugh.

“Nope, don’t think so,” Dean said with feigned shock.

“Do you _ever_ study?” Cas asked with a bemused shake of his head.

Dean leaned back, an “Ah-ha!” look on his face. “Old Chucky’s been giving you the college speech again, huh? What is it this time? He find one where you can major in aerobics?”

Cas groaned, simply accepting the fact that Dean knew Cas and his life so well. “Co-ed phys-ed.”

Dean laughed in clear delight. Then he clapped Cas on the shoulder. “Well, man, just to compare sad stories, it’s probably better to have a Chuck pushing you toward college as fast as he can, rather than to have no Chuck, not pushing you nowhere.” Dean made a face as if his words had confused even him.

Cas smiled, appreciating his friend’s understanding and also wanting to extend his own show of support. “Where would I be without you?”

“Well, since I just drove your sorry ass to school, like I do everyday, I guess you’d be stuck at home with Pops, reading college brochures.”

The person in front of them—a wiry skater punk with a mullet of all things—stopped for no apparent reason, skateboard parked across his shoulders. This caused Dean to whip out his ever-present drumsticks and tap a beat against the deck. The skater jerked around and glared.

“Do you _mind_?” he asked, riskily confrontational considering how much larger Dean was.

Dean got in his face. “I do, as a matter of fact,” Dean told him, causing the skater—Cas thought the guy’s name might be Ash, but he wasn’t sure—to scamper off, fear on his face.

They passed through the halls together, talking about art and music, then stepped out into the courtyard to take the shortcut to their lockers. Dean was saying something about their past times being “hip” when they inadvertently stepped in the path of Benny, the school’s notorious punk, who led a gang of other leather-clad punks in general mayhem. He wasn’t exactly a bully, but he wasn’t exactly anyone you wanted to fuck with either.

“Uuuugggghhhh,” Benny moaned, sticking his combat boot clad foot across their path, pretending his leg was injured.

“Perdon a me, senor,” Cas said in a fair Spanish accent.

“Perdon a me?” Benny repeated, turning to his cronies and repeating it again as a statement. Then he retracted his boot.

“Gracias,” Cas said and started walking through.

“Wow, A-plus performance there, Benji. How long you been practicing?” Dean asked him, confrontational as always.

“How long you been practicing sucking schlong, brother?” Benny asked with a grin.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I mean, you got those pretty little lips, I figure you must do something to make ‘em all pouty like that. Too bad you don’t have bigger tits or you’d be just my type,” Benny said, getting into Dean’s space and touching his chest.

Dean lunged forward in fight mode and Cas jumped in then, separating them just as Principal Moseley walked up to reprimand Benny and relieve him of his contraband. Cas and Dean quietly slipped away, though Dean threw a parting shot of “Pfft, _men_.” Cas’s mouth turned up at one corner. Dean was a sassy little shit. Cas was lucky to have him.

***

Cas sat at his usual table in the library. He didn’t bother checking out any books or even looking through any. He had his sketch book out instead and was working on a rough draft for a sort of logo he wanted to airbrush on the Impala. He’d gotten it about halfway finished when he noticed people sitting down a few tables away.

_Dick and Meg._

As surreptitiously as he could, he turned the page of his sketchbook to a fresh sheet. He was more than a little captivated by Meg’s face. While she didn’t have the same sort of beauty as Dean—who did?—there was something so sweet and almost innocent about her features. While Cas knew she often acted as terribly as Dick and the rest of the popular clique, he always felt there was something false about her attempts at being a mean girl. With her, it often had the stiffness of an act, and it smacked of a kind of self-defense. He was reasonably sure that, underneath it all, she was still the same good girl he remembered her as from the year she’d moved to town—before the Dick Roman’s of the world saw her beauty and decided to try and corrupt it.

Lost in his sketching and musing as he was, Cas forgot to be careful and Dick caught him staring at Meg.

_Shit._

Cas held his ground in the staring match that ensued with Dick, but when Dick broke eye contact to make a grotesque mockery of a PDA, Cas looked down at his book again, ignoring them. The sketch was done anyway. He turned back to the Impala sketch.

***

Dean was skipping Economics when he caught sight of Chuck Novak hanging out by what Dean was pretty sure was Gabriel’s Algebra class. The horrified yelling from inside the class confirmed it. Good ole Gabe. Always good for melodrama. Dean chuckled to himself as he watched Chuck scurry away from the door.

During one of his many forays into playing hooky, Dean had learned a thing or two about the school. One of those things was that, if you stood in just the right spot in the boys’ bathroom by the office, you could hear everything that was happening in the guidance counselor’s office. So when he saw Chuck walking the way of the GC’s door, he headed for the boys’ room as fast as he could.

What he heard once he got there bummed him out. Chuck was a good guy, over all. He was actually a pretty good dad, all things considered—at least from where fatherless Dean was sitting. The thing was, he hadn’t gone to college, and he’d always felt like he’d screwed up because of it. So he had been pushing Cas toward higher education practically since his first day of Kindergarten.

Today was no exception.

The guidance counselor, Ms. Barnes, had just said something about how Cas was creative and they’d been looking at art schools together.

“Art school? No, no, he’s going to business school. He can paint on the weekends, but he needs a real degree from a real college.”

The bell rang, cutting off whatever else was being said. Dean rushed off to find Cas and warn him that Chuck was around. He caught him exiting the library, looking flustered and casting disparaging glances at the back of Dick Roman’s head.

 _What’s that about_? Dean wondered. What he asked aloud was, “Hey, you sittin’ down, dude?”

Cas gave him that adorable frown of grumpy confusion and looked down at himself. “Do I _look_ like I’m sitting down to you? I’m walking toward my locker, Dean, what do you think?”

“Well, it’s just, bad news usually requires sitting down to hear it, but, um, I’m pretty sure your dad’s in school.”

Cas stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, eyes wide with the horror that only comes with parental embarrassment—not that Dean had much experience with it, but he’d seen it enough from Cas and Gabriel.

“ _No_.” His voice was soft and pleading.

“Yeah, sorry, man. Avoid the office area, I guess? He was talking to Barnes when I saw him.” Dean chewed his lip. “He’s, uh, he’s really set on the whole business school thing, huh?”

“Shit, was he talking to her about that?” Cas spun around, clutching at his hair in frustration.

Dean laid a comforting hand on his arm, wishing he didn’t have such a strong need to touch Cas, but glad to have an excuse.

“Look, dude, take it easy. Just head off to the art department, skip this period—it’s just algebra, anyway, right? You know that shit backwards and forwards.”

Cas sighed and Dean knew he’d won him over. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you later.”

“Always. Hey, call me if you’re not gonna be at the service station later, yeah?”

Cas nodded, waving over his shoulder as he headed off toward the art room. Dean considered following, but opted against it. He had chemistry and he didn’t know it in any direction. If he had a hope of graduating, he’d have to buckle down and figure it out, so he couldn’t afford to miss it. He watched Cas walk away, graceful as ever, and sighed.

Being in love with your best friend really sucked when they didn’t see you the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still with me? Thanks to all who left me kisses via comment last week. *schmoops all your faces* ♥♥♥


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheating, art, and broken hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer than the others as a reward for being slightly late with posting ~~and not at all because cutting it where I did was more painful, how dare you~~

Cas worked on the painting he’d been obsessed with for the past few weeks, since no one else was around. He couldn’t take it home, so he only worked on it before school or during times when he otherwise had the art room to himself. It didn’t even have the embarrassing part filled in yet, but he was still scared to have someone ask him about it. He’d never been a very good liar when he was confronted without warning.

He was adding a few of the straight lines that made up the foreground when he noticed movement from his periphery. Dick Roman was standing near Meg’s locker, with a blonde freshman Castiel thought was named Ruby. Dick was clearly hitting on her, even going so far as to touch where her cleavage might be in a lower-cut shirt. She obviously didn’t mind, looking up at him like he’d invented Louis Vuitton bags, MAC makeup, and credit cards.

Castiel rolled his eyes, continuing with his painting when Dick bent down to kiss Ruby. Then he saw a flash of glossy curls over shiny leather and knew Meg had caught Dick out. Surely now she’d break up with him, right? Castiel watched surreptitiously to see how it would all play out. He really wanted to see Dick get what was coming to him. Ruby scurried away before Meg reached them.

“What’s wrong?”

Meg ignored him, slamming her locker open and yanking out her things, throwing the books she’d been carrying back into it. She finished up and slammed the door back shut, fumbling with the lock as she tried to snap it back into place.

“Meg, darling, what is it?” Dick asked, leaning close.

“What the hell do you think, _Dick_?”

Dick had the temerity to laugh. “Meg, Meg, Meg. How can someone so beautiful have such insecurities?” He forcibly tilted her chin up with his finger, making her face him, even if he couldn’t force her gaze to his his. “Now, I was standing here, by _your_ locker, waiting for _you_. Why would I be trying to hit on someone else in such a ridiculous location, hm? She’s a friend of my little sister’s. Her brother was in bad car accident and I was offering her my support. She’s pretty shaken up.”

Castiel could see that Meg was swayed by Dick’s complete bullshit. He huffed and shook his head as he heard Dick tell her he’d bring the car around and left her staring after him. Then Meg caught him looking—for the second time in one day—and he saluted her. She gave him an incredulous look before scoffing and walking toward the exterior doors.

***

Dean was happy to be back in the shop with Cas again. He didn’t enjoy being scolded for playing drums on the boss’s car—since he’d done it before without Cas making a peep—or the fact that they wouldn’t be eating together—since their occasional meals together were really the only time Dean didn’t have to eat alone for dinner—but just being near Cas was always calming.

At least it was until Cas asked, “You know anything about Meg Masters?”

Dean knew right away he’d found out who Cas was interested in. His heart plummeted. He kept up a front, though, miming an hourglass figure and curly hair with his hands, a questioning expression on his face.

Cas nodded.

“What about her?”

“Nothing, really. Just curious about her.”

“Curious about what? Why she sold her soul? How she gets all those curls in her hair? What she’s like in the sack?” Dean tried to keep his tone teasing, even though he was burning up inside, dying to think of Cas touching anyone who wasn’t him.

“Why do you automatically assume I want to sleep with her?” Cas scoffed, tightening a bolt with a wrench.

“Oh, my apologies. Obviously you just wanna get her help starting an after school ‘Feed the Poor’ program.”

“Dean, who says I wanted to do anything with her? I just asked if you knew anything about her.” Cas shook his head and moved to a different bolt. “I express a minor interest in someone and you ‘freak out.’”

Dean didn’t want to find the air quotes so endearing.

“This ain’t freakin’ out, buddy. This is me being the voice of logic, trying to save you from Satan’s clutches.”

Cas rolled his eyes, angry now. “Why do you hate her so much? Do you even know where she lives? She’s not some rich—”

“Oh, no, I know she lives on our side of the railroad tracks, but she runs with all those soulless bastards from the McMansion side of town. And the way they treat the rest of us ain’t what I call interesting. It’s fucking bullshit.”

A bell indicated that someone had pulled up on the drive. Looking out, Dean could see it was Dick and Meg, in his shiny silver Jaguar he’d been handed by Daddy on his sixteenth birthday, presumably along with a supply of hair gel, a stash of roofies and giant stack of hundred dollar bills. Dean tried to watch without giving himself away, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Cas liked Meg, that much was clear. What the hell was Dean going to do?

***

Cas stepped out onto the drive, stomach sinking as he saw it was Dick with Meg beside him. Given that they were probably the only full service gas station _anywhere_ , Cas knew it couldn’t be that Dick had come around only to fuck with him. Dick liked to be waited on and he’d come in before. On the other hand, the fact that he’d come the same day he’d caught Cas staring at Meg probably wasn’t coincidence. Surely Daddy had another car with gas in it Dick could have borrowed for the evening.

“Super Unleaded. And check the oil. Carl, is it?”

“Could you turn off your engine, please?”

Dick did, but his gaze never left Cas. Cas ignored him and filled up the tank. When he was done, he moved to the front of the car, but while Dick was making a show of kissing Meg’s neck, he hadn’t opened the hood. Cas rapped it once with his knuckles to get Dick’s attention.

“Ah-ah-ah, play nice or I’ll make you give this baby the full inspection.” He smiled, but it was venomous.

Cas avoided further eye contact and busied himself under the hood. He knew it was a petty move, but he was tired of Dick’s bullshit. Tired of being bullied, in general. So after checking the oil and cleaning the dipstick, he slid it down the back of his pants and closed the hood. The oil was a little low, but he wasn’t going to tell Dick that. It would be lower still soon.

“You sure like looking at my girl Meg, here, dontcha, Carl?” He held folded money between his first two fingers and drummed it up and down on the edge of the door.

“Dick, leave it,” Meg said, looking out the other door.

“What, he likes looking at you, kitten! You’re nice to look at.”

“I’m an artist. I look at lots of people,” Cas deflected, trying submissive downcast eyes as a means to get him the hell out of there, even though what he wanted was to punch Dick square in the face.

“Yeah, well, tell you what. How about you keeps your eyes off of things that belong to me and we’ll be square, huh?” There was a faux friendliness to his voice that somehow made the underlying hatred that much worse.

“Hey!” Meg snapped, head whipping around. Her eyes were full of fire and also, at least to Cas’s view, a little bit of hurt. “Cut it out, Dick!”

Dick only held out the money. “Here’s $20 for the fill up and another $10 for the look.” He tossed the money on the ground and sped away.

Cas sighed and bent down to pick it up. He knew Dean was watching from inside, biting his nail down to the quick. He wondered what his friend thought as he pulled out the shiny dipstick and tossed it into the garbage.

“Man, that guy is aptly named,” was Dean’s only comment.

This failure to push his argument and instead take Cas’s side against a common enemy, Cas knew was a big reason why they were friends. In that moment he wanted to pull Dean into a bear hug and not let go for a long time. They didn’t really do that, though. He supposed a pat on the shoulder would have to do.

***

Dean was in the middle of Algebra when he noticed—and not for the first time—that the weird skater guy Ash was staring at him. He’d been ignoring it, but today the teacher was distracted and Dean _needed_ distraction from Cas-filled thoughts, so he turned and made eye contact, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Ash blanched and looked down quickly. Dean kept looking. When Ash realized he had Dean’s full attention and it wasn’t going away, he licked his lips and looked around. Then he leaned forward slightly.

“You’re, um, you’re Dean, right?”

“What’s it to you?”

Ash sighed, frowning slightly. “I’m not trying to stir up anything, dude. I just, like... you seem like a cool person.”

It was Dean’s turn to frown. He was suspicious by nature. He’d been trained to be by life experience. On the other hand, Ash wasn’t exactly known for excessive social activity. Or any, really. People left him alone for the most part, from what Dean could see. And maybe he could use another friend, especially if Cas was serious about this Meg chick.

“Yeah, well, I _am_ a cool person. Question is, are you?”

***

Cas really hadn’t intended to spy on Meg. He had been coming down from the bleachers on the boys’ side of the tennis courts, simply by happenstance, when he saw Meg trying to sneak back in amongst her classmates. He hadn’t seen them drive up, but looking around, he could clearly see Dick’s car waiting to exit the school at the far side of the parking lot. Meg had been skipping.

“—two weeks of morning detention, Miss Masters. Get inside. _Now_.” The gym teacher was not a fan of Meg, and everyone knew it. She looked happy to finally have something on her she could use.

Cas chewed his nail as he contemplated what to do. Two weeks in a room with Meg where Dick couldn’t reach them? Detention would be worth that, surely? Five minutes later, he found himself pulling the fire alarm and standing to wait for a teacher to catch him and assign his punishment.

He was excited all night and all the next morning, up until he arrived outside the detention room, just in time to realize his mistake. Meg was talking—well, flirting, really—with the teacher in charge of monitoring the detained students. He couldn’t hear the whole conversation, but it was obvious she was getting out of her punishment.

_Fuck._

“Castiel?” the detention monitor called out in a much less kind voice than he’d used on Meg. “Get inside please.” He gestured at the room beyond him, where Cas could see Benny and at least half his thugs.

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck_.

***

Dean had been going over it and over it in his head. He needed to talk to Cas about Meg. Get things out in the open. Maybe he could deal with it, if he heard Cas say the words. If he heard him say he was interested in Meg, then maybe Dean could start to get over it. Maybe he could start to see Cas the way Cas saw him: as nothing more than a friend.

Chuck had asked Cas to give his car a tune up on Saturday, so Dean had volunteered to come over and keep him company. He wasn’t sure whether it was the best time or not, but it might be the only time he could work up the nerve, so he decided he would try to go for it.

“Can you hand me that socket there?” Cas asked, wiping his brow on his sleeve.

“This one?” At Cas’ nod, Dean picked it up and handed it over.

A few flicks of his wrist and Cas stood up, flexing his back. Becky, either knowing how long it took or having been watching them through the window—because no way was she just that good at timing—brought them out a pitcher of iced tea just then.

“Hey, Dean! Good to see you! How’re your brothers?”

Dean did his best to smile at her. She was weird, but she was Cas’ mom, so obviously there must be something redeeming about her. She was always nice to him too—although he thought that might be part of why he thought she was weird. That, or maybe his lack of mother figure. He wasn’t used to feminine hovering and nurturing.

“They’re fine. Good to see you too. Thanks for the tea. Looks great.”

“Cas, honey, have you invited Dean for dinner?”

“Mom, he’s literally standing right there. Why wouldn’t you just ask him to stay for dinner?”

Becky frowned at Cas, but turned a bright smile on Dean. “Dean, I apologize for my son’s lack of manners. Would you like to eat with us tonight? We’re having pork chops and mashed potatoes.” She flicked a mildly annoyed look at Cas before smiling at Dean once more. “Oh, and I’ve made pie for dessert. I seem to recall you were a big pie fan, am I right?”

‘Yes, ma’am. Can’t go wrong with pie. I’d love to stay for dinner, if you’re sure it’s no trouble.”

Becky beamed at him and shot Cas a smug look. “It’s no trouble at all, dear. Be ready in about half an hour.”

Dean gave her the most genuine smile he could as she walked back into the house. Then he cleared his throat and decided to dive right in.

“So what’s the deal with you and this Meg chick, anyways? You hoping to lose your V-card by Halloween or something?” Dean tried to sound like his normal teasing self, even though his heart was thundering in his chest.

Cas sighed. “She’s interesting, Dean. Like I said.”

The fact that he fiddled with his screwdriver and couldn’t look Dean in the eyes said it was more, however. And despite Dean’s best intentions, he couldn’t leave it there.

“She’s got no clue who you are, Cas. And wouldn’t care, if she did.” He pretended to talk to himself. “How many more times will we have this conversation with Cas? I’m not sure, Dean. How many times?”

Those blue eyes suddenly focused on Dean with intensity. “Do you know what sort of a person Dick Roman is?”

“Uh, yeah. Handsome, rich, popular, and horrible. Not to mention: ready, willing, and able to grind you into a thick red paste for his own consumption.”

“He treats Meg like garbage. He cheats on her and he—”

“And obviously, _she_ has a thing for that. She’s still with the asswipe, right? Obviously not making good choices, that one.”

Cas sat back and sighed. “Dean, you don’t understand. You have no idea how I feel.”

“I know exactly how you feel!” Dean protested.

“Oh, do you? You’ve been in love?” Cas’s tone, as he said the words Dean had dreaded, was mocking.

Dean did his best to play it off with a smirk. “There’s plenty you don’t know about me, Novak.”

“Oh, is that a fact? And who’ve you been in love with, Winchester?” Cas was practically grinning now.

“Look, Cas, you’re getting all worked up over a girl you don’t even know, man. You’re gonna regret it.”

“I happen to think it’s a gamble worth taking, Dean.”

Dean smirked. “Where angels fear to tread, right?”

Cas huffed. “Not a fool, Dean.”

“Oh, yeah? Those pants say different, my friend.” He smiled as if his world wasn’t imploding.

He could do this. He _could_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me today "Do people not tell you your writing is good?" and I thought of and missed you guys. Love me? ♥♥♥


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel starts to earn Benny's respect; Dean gets caught with his pants down; Castiel lifts a girl from a guat like Roman; Dean mends a fence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are again. 
> 
> There have been a few changes so far to the actual movie, but I feel like we are moving into more major changes now. Unfortunately, our main character, Cas/Keith, is still an oblivious twit who thinks he wants one person when the best person for him is standing right there, but there was never enough Watts for me in the original and I hope I've rectified that with extra Dean. Watts' back story (and current story, frankly, aside from Keith) was hella vague, which was actually good for me because I can fill in the blanks as I see fit for Dean and his family life and his other non-Cas interactions...
> 
> Is this note boring as hell? Sigh.
> 
> On the plus side (for some of you), there's one of fan fic's favorite Dean kinks to be had, so you have that to look forward to, right?

Cas was stuck in detention again. Benny and his goons had mostly left him alone, despite the fact that he’d been assigned a seat right next to Benny. He was thankful for that and for the fact that he could use the time for drawing, rather than some busywork task the monitor had decided to assign.

Today, though, he was sketching the Impala, which seemed to have gotten Benny’s attention. Benny was leaning over far enough that a smaller guy would have been hanging half out of the seat, trying to catch a better look. It had even dragged him away from whatever he’d been gouging into the surface of his desk.

Cas relaxed his shoulders and schooled his face neutral, tilting the notebook toward Benny before glancing at him. Benny gave him a “not bad” expression and nodded, then turned back to his own work, looking at it strangely. Before Cas could react, Benny was knocking the desk top loose from the metal framing and turning it so Cas could see.

On Benny’s Desk was a crude rendering of a pirate ship. Cas could tell, however, that it was the implement, rather than the artist, that was hampering the drawing. Benny had a good eye and Cas was actually impressed with his skill.

“Not bad, Benny.”

Cas nodded as he said it and Benny’s whole face lit up. Then they both went back to their work.

***

Dean hated gym class. He was strong, but he didn’t have the ripped physique a lot of his classmates seemed to have and he wasn’t particularly interested in sports. Running was for getting away from people, not chasing a ball around, as far as he was concerned.

Then there was the fact that he was just ever so slightly pretty, as opposed to strictly handsome—and was therefore considered less manly because people are assholes. So gym sucked, in a nutshell.

He’d been on the verge of late to class, so he’d been alone in the locker room when he put his uniform on. Because of that, it wasn’t until the end of class, when he was changing back into his school clothes, that he realized what a grave error he had made that morning.

“Hey, Winchester, are those _panties_?” There was mocking laughter in the voice, which belonged to one of Dick’s companions, a guy named Levi.

Dean’s heart sank as he looked down and realized he had grabbed a pair of the wrong underwear this morning. It wasn’t panties, but it was a pair of boy shorts. Thankfully, while it had a feminine cut, it also had a front opening, so he had a cover ready.

“Uh, no?” he replied, all innocence. Then he paused. “Wait. Does your mom wear panties with an opening for her dick, Levi?”

“Don’t talk about my mom, faggot.”

“Interesting choice of words, since you were the one looking at another dude’s underwear, but whatever.”

Levi’s friends, who were obviously trying not to let him see them laughing at Dean’s comebacks, encouraged him out of the locker room.

When Levi passed Dean, Dean couldn’t help saying, “Tell your mom thanks for loaning me her underwear!”

Dean knew he had sounded confident and even cocky throughout the exchange, but inside he was shaking. That could have gone so badly, and he knew it. His height was a definite advantage, but what happened if they ever found out he identified as bisexual, let alone that he sometimes wore _actual_ panties? He didn’t want to know.

***

Cas had made up his mind, thanks in part to a conversation with Benny about seizing the day. He was going to ask Meg out. He was terrified, but he was going to do it. He knew where they all hung out and he was going to get her away from her friends and ask her out.

He purposefully hadn’t mentioned it to Dean. He told himself that it was because he knew how Dean would react, and that was partially true. There was also another reason, which he didn’t want to examine too closely. The fact that he felt weird and squirmy inside when he thought about Dean and asking Meg out at the same time, well, that was something he thought better left unexamined.

He watched the group from across the road, trying to get his nerve up. He was so nervous that at first he didn’t notice Meg wasn’t there yet. Then he realized Dick was with the same girl Cas had caught him with before. He was about to turn around and leave, thinking Meg must not be coming, when he caught sight of her striding toward the group where Dick was sitting, entwined with the other girl. 

He watched it unfold in what felt like slow-motion, the look on her face as she saw Dick and Dick’s seeming amusement about the whole thing. Cas heard a voice call out Meg’s name, not realizing at first that it was his own.

He thought she would ignore him, but apparently getting away from Dick was more important to her than anything else at that moment. He wasn’t thrilled to be an excuse, but at the moment, he’d take it. If he could get her away from them, he could prove—

“—something you needed? Clarence, is it?”

“It’s Castiel, actually. Um, I was wondering if you would want to go out with me next Friday.”

Meg looked taken aback for a minute and then a small, strange smile appeared on her face. “You’re... asking me out. On a date. With you.”

Cas wasn’t sure why she was repeating it all, but he nodded. “Yes. On Friday.”

“I, um... you know what? Okay, sure. Why not? Let’s go out on Friday. You and me. Pick me up at seven sharp. Later, Clarence!”

“It’s Cas—” he tried to say, but she was already gone, walking back toward her group.

***

Dean was miserable. Weekend breakfast for a lot of people seemed to be a meal to look forward to. Family around the table, sharing a big spread of food cooked with love, and discussing the day ahead. For Dean it was just him at the counter, his cooking skills wasted on just himself, and nothing planned for the day except trying to get a job.

“Hey.”

  
Dean nearly choked on his orange juice. He whirled around to face his younger brother, Sam.

“Uh, hey. You’re up early for a Saturday.”

“Yeah. I’ve got a club today. Don’t suppose there’s enough pancakes for me? They smell awesome.”

“Um. No, but... I could make you some? If you want. I mean, it’s no big deal.” It felt stupid to be this excited over the possibility of cooking for his brother, but Dean missed the relationship he and Sam had had when Sam was little. Back when things were less complicated.

Sam’s face lit up at the offer. “You really don’t mind? I’m pretty hungry.”

Dean smiled. “No problem. Have a seat.”

As he turned away to get a mixing bowl, he smiled to himself. Maybe this day wouldn’t suck so bad, after all.

‘You want a ride to your club?” he asked as he whisked eggs and flour and milk with a little vanilla and sugar and cinnamon.

“You—really?” Sam’s eyes narrowed. “Why’re you being so nice to me?”

Dean frowned. “’Cause you’re my brother, bitch. Geez, do you just hate me now?”

His good mood had already evaporated, and in its place was bitterness. He slapped the frying pan back on the burner with a little more force than necessary and tried not to feel glee when Sam jumped. He oiled the pan and waited for it to heat, ignoring his brother for the moment while he grabbed another plate and fork. The butter and syrup were still on the counter and he set the dishes next to them.

As he poured the first bit of batter, he heard Sam mutter something, but he couldn’t understand what he’d said.

“What’s that?” he asked absently, not really interested anymore.

“I said, ‘sorry.’ I just... Dad and Adam are assholes. Sometimes it’s easier to think of you that way too. I know you’re not.”

Dean, feeling the threat of tears, turned back to his cooking. He lifted one shoulder in a shrug, unwilling to acknowledge how much he’d needed to hear Sam didn’t hate him. How pathetic that such a simple thing had him glassy eyed with gratitude.

“I wish....”

He was quiet for so long, Dean turned to look, but Sam just shook his head.

“Never mind. Just forget it.”

“No, Sam. You wish what?” Dean tried to make sure there wasn’t any emotion at all on his face.

“I wish we still hung out sometimes. The way we used to, you know?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah. I do know.” He flipped a pancake onto the empty plate. “Here, eat this while I cook more.” He sniffed and turned to pour more batter. “I’ll give you a ride to your club today and maybe, I don’t know. Maybe we can make some time later this week too?”

Sam actually smiled. “Yeah. Let’s do that. These are awesome, by the way.”

Dean happily made Sam a dozen pancakes and they talked while he cooked—and then cleaned up—and Sam ate. By the time they made it to the school where Sam’s club was meeting, it felt like old times. Dean felt good. He couldn’t wait to tell Cas. If anyone would understand how happy Dean was, he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? I don't _always_ leave you with angst*. Loves for me? Or, perhaps, porn muffins? [UPDATE: I did not make these muffins! I forgot to give credit to the lovely wingedwillowtwist, who found the Happy muffin and went from there on a baking spree of joy, all for me]  
> 
> 
> # ♥♥♥♥♥
> 
> * ~~I may have saved it for next time.~~


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad choices and bouncy boobs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi darlings! Sorry this is late. Been on the road with no Wi-Fi. Went to Dallas Con. The cast was lovely as always. Still ont he road, but I have wifi tonight and figured I'd better try to get this put up while I could.

Family breakfast didn’t seem as dismal as it normally did, the morning after Meg had told Cas she’d go out with him. The sun was shining, the birds were singing—and his family was staring at him like he’d grown two new heads.

“You, uh, you look happy, son,” his father said as he passed a plate of fruit to Charlie.

“Do I, Chuck? I am happy, I suppose.” He smiled as he said it and didn’t stop as he took a bite of egg white omelet.

“You have a lovely smile, dear. You should smile more often!” his mother enthused, taking a plate of bacon from Gabriel and passing it Cas’s way.

He patted her hand as he took the plate. “Thank you, Becky.”

Chuck raised an eyebrow. “Uh, she-she’s Mom. I’m Dad... and are you smoking drugs of some kind?”

“It can’t be true,” Gabriel said. “I mean, there’s no way that rumor is actually true, right, Cassie?”

“To which rumor are you referring, Gabriel?” Cas didn’t really care, and his smile didn’t falter.

“Cassie! Big bro. No way are you going out with Meg Masters, right?”

“Say what, now?” Charlie asked, saucer-eyed.

Gabriel turned to her, face filled with the glee only spreading gossip could cause him. “Dude, last night everybody was talking about how Cas—our Cas—had asked a chick out! I mean, how were you able to convince her?” He squinted at Cas. “Are you holding her mother hostage?”

“I asked her out and she said yes. It was terribly dramatic,” Cas said, his smile not wavering.

“Is she nice, Castiel?” his mom asked, looking excited.

Before he could say anything, Gabriel broke in with, “She’s a walking sex bomb, mom.”

Cas wanted to yell at Gabriel, but his dad started speaking before his brother had even finished.

“Well, that’s, um, that’s great, son. Maybe, though, you could take a little of that chasing girls energy and focus it on picking a college, hm?” There was no real venom behind the words, just obvious frustration.

“Lighten up, Pops! Any bozo can get himself into a school. Not many can say the same about Meg Masters’ lacy panties.”

Cas nearly choked on his milk. So much for breakfast not being dismal. Watching his little brother get half the punishment he’d have gotten for saying such a thing didn’t help.

***

Dean had called Cas after he dropped off Sam, but Cas had been acting weird. He did seem genuinely glad to hear that Dean and Sam were getting along again, but it was pretty obvious to Dean that Cas was nervous about something and he rushed Dean off the phone as soon as he could.

As a consequence, Dean had felt like shit the rest of the day. He’d ignored the phone whenever it rang and had stayed up late into the wee hours of Sunday morning, playing his drums. He crashed face first onto the bed and didn’t know a thing until he was woken up by pounding on his bedroom door.

“Dean! Open up, man! This guy’s been calling since yesterday!”

It was Sam or Dean would have ignored it. As it was, he dragged himself off the mattress with a groan. When he opened the door, he glared at Sam with one eye. Sam just held out the phone.

“He’s been calling since yesterday,” Sam repeated.

Dean’s face softened and he nodded. He tried to mumble “Thanks,” but he wasn’t sure it had been more than sounds.

“’Lo?”

“Hey! Uh, sorry to seem, like, over eager or whatever, but, um, I was kinda hoping we could hang today while my parents are gone.”

“Who the fuck is this?”

“Oh, right!” The guy laughed. “Sorry. This is Ash.”

For a moment, Dean’s mind stayed blank. Then mullet and skateboard clicked into place in his mind. “Dude, I didn’t give you my number.”

“Uh, no? I hacked into the school directory. So, you cool to hang or what?”

Dean leaned his forehead on the wall and rolled it back and forth, holding the phone to his side. Then he lifted his head and the phone.

“Yeah, okay. There coffee near you? I need coffee.”

“Sure, man. I live two blocks from Biggerson’s.”

“Twenty minutes.” Dean hung up without waiting for an answer.

In truth, he could be there in ten, but he decided a shower might be a good idea, even if he wasn’t sure about this Ash guy. No need to make himself more of a social outcast than he was already by smelling like a farm animal.

Freshly showered, he hopped in his car and headed over, reflecting against his will about his social status. He rarely thought about it anymore. It had been him and Cas against the world for so long now that it had ceased to matter, but with Cas thinking about expanding his social circle—not that Dean thought in a million years Meg would give Cas the time of day—Dean thought maybe he’d do well to do the same.

Cas had told him once that he was pretty sure that if Dean had been born rich, with all other things being equal, then all his social problems would have disappeared. Dean had scoffed, but Cas had been insistent.

“Not me, though,” Cas had said. “I’d be an outcast, anyway. I’m too weird for money to make up for it. Not to mention my looks aren’t much.”

Though Dean secretly thought Cas was gorgeous, what he’d said was, “Yeah. You are kinda fugly.” The big grin on his face had made Cas laugh and throw a french fry at him, ending the maudlin discussion.

Thinking back on it now, it seemed like that conversation had meant more to Cas than Dean had realized. Dean hadn’t been pining for normalcy—at least not when it came to socializing at school, though family was a different matter—because he had Cas, but apparently, Cas hadn’t felt the same.

He was saved from his thoughts by arriving at Biggerson’s, where he found Ash waiting outside, smoking a cigarette that smelled suspiciously unlike tobacco. They didn’t speak, opting instead for lazy waves as they met and walked inside together. Dean walked over to a booth near the corner and assumed—correctly—that Ash would follow.

“Can I interest you boys in some coffee?” a matronly waitress asked before their asses had even hit the seats.

“Yeah, a full pot, please.”

“I just wanna Coke, beautiful,” Ash put in.

“Okay, sweetheart, I’ll be right back with those and take your orders.”

Dean, having had to wake up enough to drive, was nonetheless still basically a zombie. He stared out the window, barely aware Ash was there for the next several minutes, until he spoke.

“Thanks for meeting me. I know we aren’t, like, friends or whatever, but—”

“Here you are, boys. Coffee for you—you need creamer?” Dean shook his head. “And Coke for you. What can I get you?”

“I’m good, thanks,” Dean said, with an eye for the lightness in his wallet.

“You sure, man? I got this, get whatever,” Ash said.

Dean raised his brows in question and Ash nodded. “Uh, in that case, can I get a short stack with a side of bacon and a couple eggs over easy?”

“Sure thing, darling. And how about for you?” the waitress asked, turning from Dean to Ash.

Dean paid little attention to what Ash ordered, instead busying himself with adding sugar to his coffee. He took a cautious sip and then drank more deeply, closing his eyes. He allowed the smell and taste of the caffeine to wake him for a few moments, then opened his eyes and looked at Ash again.

“So, we aren’t friends, but?” Dean prompted.

“But, uh, I’d like to be? Like I said, you seem cool. And I’m cool. And like, now that your bestie has date with a hottie, I figure you might have some free time, you know?”

Suddenly Dean’s hunger became a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach. He’d been mildly excited for the food, but now he had no interest in it whatsoever.

“What do you mean ‘a date with a hottie?’” he asked, voice sounding more normal than he’d expected, given that he felt like he might throw up any second.

“Uh, dude, where you been? Your man asked out Meg Masters Friday night at the mall and that crazy lady up and said ‘Yes’ to his even crazier ass.”

Dean wanted to run out of the diner. He wanted to give a terse, “I have to go” and step out of the booth and drive to Meg Masters’ house and punch her in the face. But since he was very much afraid he might do just exactly that—and lose his best friend forever in the process—he stayed where he was. He forced a look of indifference on his face.

He made a derisive noise. “You call her a hottie? I mean, she’s okay, I guess. If you ask me, having a soul is a lot more attractive than bouncy boobs.”

“Don’t like any kind of boobs, myself,” Ash declared boldly—and then blushed a dark crimson.

Suddenly Dean had an idea of how he was going to get through this. If Cas had a new love interest, then Dean would just pretend to have one too.

“So, you prefer dudes, huh? I got a proposition for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love you beauties. Come say hi. I live on your comments. ♥♥♥


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas talks to Benny. Dean talks to Ash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late again, I'm sorry. I just got back yesterday and was too tired to manage to post. My road trip was amazing, though, thank you for asking. I even met a couple of my Gishwhes team members :)

“This is what my girlfriend would look like as a vampire,” Benny said, holding his new sketchpad up for Cas to view.

“Wow, that’s, um....”

Before he could think of a suitable response—the drawing was good enough, but the violence and gore of the image was not to Cas’s personal taste, to say the least—Benny was slapping his arm.

“Hey, speaking of ladies, I hear ‘grats are in order for you! Meg Masters, huh? How’d you manage _that_ , man?”

“How’d you hear about—”

“Brother, I don’t _live_ in detention. That’s just a rumor.” Benny winked. “No, but seriously. Whenever a guy from our side can convince a girl away from a dick like Dick—”

“You come up with that yourself?” Cas dared to joke.

Benny snorted. “Some things are classics for a reason, man.” A grin broke over Benny’s face. “If you don’t at least get to second base, I’m gonna be so disappointed in you, my friend.”

“Classy, Ben. I actually respect her?”

At this, Benny’s eyes widened and he looked incredulous for a moment. “You— _Meg_?” At Cas’s glare, he schooled his face into something more respectful. “Okay, then, brother. Duly noted. This is not about sleeping with a hottie from the popular crowd. I will be accordingly reverential from now on.”

Cas might have believed that if not for knowing Benny for so long. The smirk that was threatening to break free any second didn’t help, either. Cas just shook his head, a small smile on his face. He had a date with Meg and the whole school knew it.

***

“So, uh, what’s this plan again?”

Dean sighed. “You sit there quietly. We wait for Cas to show up for his daily ride home. You start acting like you’re into me.”

“Yeah, that’s not really going to be a problem, compadre.” Ash blushed and ducked his head a little, but didn’t break eye contact.

“Ash....”

“I know, man, okay? You’re head over heels for your best friend. Everybody knows except for him, I think, but... I’m just saying. Cas isn’t the only person who sees how cool you are.”

Dean felt hot and cold all over at the idea that everyone knew how he felt about Cas. He rubbed the back of his neck.

Ash turned so he was closer to Dean and looking him more directly in the eyes. “Everyone thinks that you’re too gay for Cas to pay attention to anyone else—otherwise the cheerleaders would swarm you every damn day—but I have a theory. You wanna hear it?” By the end, his voice was lower and slightly breathy.

“Oh, yeah, enlighten me.” Dean’s defenses were up now and he didn’t care if he sounded like a sarcastic asshole or that Ash had agreed to help him.

Ash’s voice got even lower and his face even closer to Dean’s. “I think that if you took the time to really look at someone else, you might realize Cas isn’t the only one worth being gay for. Sexual energy like that should not go to waste, Dean.” He was practically purring now.

“Ash, it’s 2016. Are you aware that there’s a whole spectrum of sexualities and genders and that a person can be more than just gay or straight or even a guy or girl?”

“Dude, I know. My penis-parent is an agender aromantic touch-averse asexual who doesn’t believe in physical affection between parent and child, and my mom is a biromantic lesbian who believes in attachment parenting.”

“That... that explains so mu—”

“So to each his own—”

Dean and Ash both spoke at once, but they were both interrupted.

“Dean!”

Dean glanced at Ash pointedly before looking at Cas with a smile. Ash dutifully scooted closer and put his arm around Dean, running his fingers lightly through Dean’s hair and staring longingly into his face.

Cas looked taken aback for a moment, but gave a hesitant smile. “Are you, um, busy?”

“No, no, Ash and I were just—” He bit his lip and looked at Ash with soft smile. “—um, _talking_. What’s up?” He turned back to Cas as he asked the question, hoping his tone and face cooled as much as he wanted when he did so.

“Oh. Um.” Cas faltered a bit, but smiled again, looking between them. “I was wondering if you’d mind letting me borrow your car?”

Dean outwardly ignored the hand—Ash’s—that had wandered to his lower back and was rubbing small circles there, where Cas couldn’t even see, but he shifted so that his elbow caught Ash in the sternum. There was a grunt and the hand moved to his stomach. He saw Cas’s gaze flick down and widen and felt a little zing of victory.

“Well, that depends on what you need it for. You going joyriding, Castiel?” Dean turned and looked at Ash again, as if he couldn’t keep his eyes off him for too long.

“Oh, um. I don’t know if you’ve already heard, but I’m going out with Meg and—”

“Nice score, compadre,” Ash offered, letting go of Dean’s stomach for a moment to punch Cas on the shoulder hard enough to jolt him sideways.

Dean would have been more annoyed, but Ash did it again and it looked like Cas might fall.

“Uh, thanks,” Cas said warily, taking a step back before turning his gaze back to Dean. “Uh, I was hoping to give Meg a ride home. So, um, could I borrow the car?”

Dean shrugged and smiled at Ash again before looking back at Cas, expression cold. “Long as you fill up the tank and check the oil, sure.”

Ash gave a goofy laugh, then sobered as he realized Dean was serious. He put his hand back on Dean’s stomach and started nuzzling around his ear. Dean stared sideways, making it look as though he was enjoying the attention. It actually made him feel a little dirty—and not in the good way.

“Of course,” Cas said, obviously trying to sound unfazed, but it was obvious Dean’s request—not to mention Ash’s presence and actions—had thrown him. “I’ll be back to get you in about an hour?”

“Whatever. Time’s just a made up construct, right?” Dean didn’t make further eye contact, despite being able to feel Cas’s stare.

“Um.” Cas stood there for a second. “Okay. See you in an hour.”

He stood there another couple of seconds, as if waiting for a response. When none came, he shuffled off toward the parking lot.

Dean scooted away from Ash, though they were still touching. He didn’t mind the stomach thing or the hair thing, really. Just the nuzzling thing and the low back thing. And the Cas and Meg thing. Dean was hurt and angry and now that Cas was gone, he didn’t bother to try to hide it. He scowled at the world at large.

“So, you planning to wait for him to pick you up?” Ash asked, moving close again and practically whispering in Dean’s ear.

“If I fucking feel like it,” Dean said, trying for cool sarcasm and only managing bitterness instead.

“You know, an hour’s plenty of time for me to demonstrate that theory I was talking about. Give you an outlet for all that pent up sexual energy.”

“I like my sexual energy pent up, thanks.”

“Ooh, kinky. You like it rough, then? I got handcuffs in my lock—”

“Dude, get _off_ me,” Dean huffed, jerking away and jumping off the picnic table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate on Ash too much. Or me. Love us with all our faults instead. xD ♥♥♥ As always, your comments give me joy, even when I'm far from home and/or sad. You're lovely, beautiful people and that's a fact. ♥♥♥


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas gets a ride home instead of Meg; Ash gets a ride home from Dean. Neither trip goes as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late again (naturally). Crazy week (again). AND I TOTALLY FORGOT TO MENTION IT WAS GAELICBLUE'S BIRTHDAY! Without her, this fic wouldn't exist, so you should head over to gaelicblue.tumblr.Com and give her some bday love

Cas wasn’t sure what to make of Dean and that skater. Were they together? Dean hadn’t mentioned he was seeing anyone. Cas felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about his own romantic life, and he’d blown off Dean’s phone call over the weekend, to boot.

Still, seeing Dean with someone was disconcerting. Especially a guy because Dean had always tried to keep his sexuality quiet. Was—what was his name? Ace? Assbutt? Ash, that was it—Ash important enough to Dean for him not to care what people thought? For some reason, the idea made Cas vaguely nauseated, which confused him. Surely he wasn’t such a jealous friend that he wouldn’t want his friend to be happy?

When he spotted Meg walking with Ruby, he remembered why he was there, and he grew nauseated for a completely different reason. He called out to her, but she didn’t turn the first time. He called out again and she turned around, looking a little freaked out.

“Hello,” he said, smiling as he approached her. “I was wondering if you might like a ride home. I thought it would give us a chance to talk before Friday.”

“Oh, um, Ruby is driving m—”

“You should go with him!” Ruby said cheerily, bumping into Meg’s shoulder. “You can ride with me anytime. Seize the opportunity!”

Ruby gave Meg a look that Cas supposed was meant to be significant, but the meaning eluded him.

“Uh. Okay then. Where’s your car?”

Meg didn’t look thrilled, but she seemed as confused by Ruby’s look as he was, so he hoped that was why.

“It’s right over there, but if you want, I can pull around to make it more convenient for you.”

“Um, sure.” She gave him a small smile.

Cas smiled back. “I’ll be right back.”

The wind was blowing toward him, so he heard snippets of their conversation as he jogged toward the car—enough to suspect Ruby wanted Meg to back out of the date and thought the ride was the perfect time for it. He sighed as he yanked open the heavy door and got in. Then he took a deep breath. He could deal with whatever she said. And maybe, even if she did try to back out, he could convince her to give him a chance. If he had a chance, he could prove to her that Dick Roman was in no way boyfriend material. He could show her a better way.

The car, true to his luck today, would not start. Dean had most likely run it out of gas again. Cas slapped the steering wheel and swore. Then he leaned his forehead on the wheel for a second before getting out of the car.

He turned to where Meg was watching. He shrugged and shook his head. He called an apology he wasn’t sure she could hear. She called back that she really had to get home and ran to Ruby’s white jeep. He stood and watched them morosely, as they backed out and started heading away from him.

To his surprise, Meg turned around and waved him over. He jogged over and found Meg smiling hugely. He saw Dick watching them from the distance, but ignored it.

“Get in! Ruby’s going to give us both a ride home.”

“I—really?”

“Sure thing, loverboy,” Ruby said, smirking at him from the driver’s seat.

So just like that, he was riding in the back of a popular girl’s car, dark hair flying in the wind. He’d hoped to talk to Meg, but there was too much wind noise except when they stopped at intersections. He attempted to talk once at a busy intersection, complimenting her on her bracelet—a thick silver chain with a diamond-studded bar—only to find out it was actually Ruby’s she had borrowed. After that, he gave up.

When they pulled up on Cas’s street, Ruby slowed and glanced at Meg, a show of nonchalance.

“Say Meg, didn’t you want to say something to—Clarence, was it?”

“Castiel,” Cas said, his heart dropping. He knew this was the moment he’d dreaded. He stared at Meg for a moment, and she stared back like a deer in headlights. “Do you want to back out? On our date?”

Her eyes widened a fraction and she licked her lips. “What? No. I mean, if you want to, I understand....”

“I would not have asked you to go on a date if I didn’t want to go on a date with you.”

Meg stared at him for a second, biting her lip. Then she nodded and smiled. Ruby gave her a look, but Meg ignored it. Ruby sighed and pulled the car to a full stop, not bothering to take it out of gear.

“Okay, loverboy, is this the place?”

It was actually two doors down, but it was obvious Ruby wanted him out. He placed a hand on Meg’s shoulder and said he’d call her before climbing out. He trotted off toward his house, expecting to hear the sound of them peeling out any second, but he didn’t. Maybe Ruby was chewing Meg out right there on the street. He turned back to look and saw something horrifying.

Gabriel had arrived from the bus and was standing at Ruby’s Jeep, _leaning_ _on the door_.

“Oh, shit,” Cas whispered.

He was about to run back to the Jeep when a hand grabbed his arm.

“Hey, sweetie! Can you help me in the basement?” It was his mom.

“Uh, o-okay. I’ll be right there.”

She headed off to the steps and disappeared. He went into the kitchen and waited for Gabriel to arrive. His little brother was, of course, smirking.

“Just ran into your girlfriend and her saucy BFF!” he sang, grinning.

“What the hell did you say to them, Gabriel?”

“Ooh, wouldn’t you like to—”

Cas grabbed him by the collar. “What the hell did you say?”

“Mom!” Gabriel yelled, clearly expecting rescue.

Cas smiled. “She’s in the basement.” He dropped the smile. “Now tell me.” He lifted Gabriel onto his tiptoes.

“Fine! Whatever, freakshow. Ruby was calling you Meg’s new boyfriend when I walked up and I told them we had an ancestral estate in Scotland. Then I told Ruby she was hot and she should call me sometime and she called me a creep and they drove off.”

Cas smiled again, dropping his brother. He patted him on the cheek. “Stay away from Meg. And stay out of my room.”

With that, he walked outside to find his mom.

***

Since Ash had run after him and tried to get close again, Dean had barely gotten ten feet from the picnic table when he saw Cas riding away in the Jeep with Ruby and Meg. He pulled up short. _Fuck_. The car must have been out of gas.

“Change your mind?” Ash was apparently still shadowing him.

“Depends.”

“Yeah?” Ash asked hopefully. “On what?”

“How hard you willing to work for it?”

Ash leered. “I can get as hard as—”

“Dude, gross. No. Just... no. Will you help me with my car?”

Ash looked confused. “I don’t really know anything about—”

“Help me push it.”

“Why?”

“Forget it.” Dean sighed and started walking away again.

“No, I mean, I’ll help, but why does it need pushing? Isn’t Cas in it?”

“It’s out of gas. I knew it was low, that’s why I wanted him to fill it up.”

“Oh,” Ash said, nodding. “Cool, but, uh, why don’t we just walk to the station and get one of those jug thingies?”

Dean stopped again and dropped his head and shoulders. He sighed heavily. “Because I’m too broke to buy a gas can _and_ gas, okay?”

Ash perked up. “Oh, no worries, man. I can spot you. Look, I’ll skate over there, grab you some gas and head right back.”

“I—you—really?” Dean wasn’t used to anyone doing anything nice.

“Yeah. Of course.” Ash ruined it by leaning close and winking. “Besides, I’m pretty sure if I do this, your gratitude will convince you to go out with me.”

As he started to ride off, Dean called out, “That’s really fucked up!”

Ash only lifted his hand in a rock-n-roll devil horns gesture and called back, “I’m cool with it!”

Dean rolled his eyes and walked to his car, finding the keys still dangling in the ignition. He sighed. He supposed it wasn’t like the car was going anywhere with no gas, but his house key was on there, so it was kind of a dick move on Cas’s part.

He rolled the windows down and sat in the car. He listened to tunes for a few minutes, but worried about the battery. It was getting kind of hot in the car too, so he eventually got out and sat on the hood. The time stretched. He was bored out of his mind, wondering if Ash had abandoned him. Finally, after more than thirty minutes, he heard the sound of skate wheels on pavement coming closer.

When he looked up, Ash was scowling. Sweat was pouring off of him and his cheeks were red.

“Dude,” he panted. “You didn’t tell me the fucking place was in Russia or somewhere.”

Dean frowned in confusion. “Ash, the gas station is a block away!” He pointed to the left as he spoke.

Ash glared. “Did you happen to notice I left going _that_ way?” He pointed to the right.

Dean did his best not to laugh. He really did appreciate the gas and the retrieval.

“Thanks, man. I mean it. Sorry you had to go so far. I thought everyone knew about Singer’s.”

Ash’s anger had already gone. “It’s cool. Here, let’s get this in your car.”

They put the gas in and Dean offered Ash a ride, figuring it was the least he could do. Ash accepted and they hit the road. Unfortunately, Ash was handsy all the way back to his house. When they pulled up. Dean threw the car into park and turned to face Ash.

“Look, man. I know you like me. And I don’t wanna hurt your feelings or whatever, but I’m not into you, all right? This ain’t gonna happen, you and me.”

Ash chewed his lip, contemplating. “A test kiss.”

“A what?” Dean thought his eyebrows might actually be touching because of how hard he was frowning.

“You know, like, sometimes you don’t realize you’re attracted to someone until you kiss them? So we should have a test kiss. If it doesn’t take, I’ll leave you alone. Or, you know, maybe we could be friends or whatever.” This last was said with much less confidence than the rest.

“A test kiss. The fuck.” Then Dean wiped a hand down his face. “You’ll leave me alone if I don’t feel anything? We’ll be just friends and no more handsy bullshit?” He searched Ash’s face closely.

Ash drew two stripes on his chest with his finger. “Cross my heart, man.”

Dean gnawed at a piece of dry lip skin, thinking. “Fine.”

“Yes!” Ash fist-pumped in the air. Then he squinted at Dean. “You ever kiss a dude before, Dean?”

“What? Pfft. Shhyeah. O’course.” He hadn’t.

“All right, all right. No twisting of the panties. Just asking.” He scooted forward toward Dean. “Now, you get closer too. Come on.”

Dean did, heart pounding. They were face to face. He didn’t know if he could do this. It was just one kiss, right? Besides, when would he next get a chance to kiss a guy? He took a slow, deep breath and got even closer, tilting his head. When he saw Ash leaning in too, he closed his eyes.

Warm lips pressed against his own. It didn’t feel much different from the times he’d kissed girls, really. Then Ash made a noise deep in his throat, taking away all pretense that this was anything other than a guy he was kissing. Ash parted his lips and deepened the kiss. Dean had worried he might be disgusted by Ash’s tongue, but he wasn’t. On the other hand, he also wasn’t _interested_. It was a pleasant enough kiss, but he wouldn’t mind when it ended and he wouldn’t care if it never repeated.

He pulled away and stared a dazed-seeming Ash in the eye. Ash’s face fell when he saw Dean’s expression.

“Nothing, huh?”

Dean shook his head. “Nope. Sorry.”

“Shit. All right. Can’t blame a dude for trying. Guess it’s sayonara. Seriously, though, you think....”

Dean stuck out a hand for shaking. “Friends?”

Ash smiled, relieved. “Friends,” he agreed, shaking Dean’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you (still). Come say hi. ♥♥♥


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick rhymes with Dick and Cas rhymes with Ass, and not in the fun way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I still owe some of you responses. For now, I'm just gonna leave this here.

Castiel arrived at school while it was still dark. The night janitor had seen him working in the art room enough late evenings that he let him in whenever he wanted, without hesitation.

“Mornin’, Cas.”

“Good morning, Earl.”

“Art room’s open.”

“Thanks!” he called, striding quickly down the hall.

Sometimes they rolled down the metal doors and locked them, but usually only when there were exhibit pieces on display. Cas was glad he didn’t have to wait for the janitor to unlock the doors today. He was getting to the final part of his painting—the portrait—and he needed to finish it and get it put away before anyone saw it.

He turned on the portable radio near the door and walked to the supply closet. As he added paint to his palette and got his brushes ready, his mind wandered. Though the subject of his painting was going to be Meg, it was Dean his brain fixated on. Who was Ash to Dean? Were they dating now? He’d tried to call Dean last night, but one of his brothers—Cas assumed it must be Sam because he’d been polite—had said he wasn’t home.

Cas felt a little guilty about leaving his keys in the car and not coming back to get him like he’d said. He would have apologized, had he reached Dean on the phone. Instead, his stomach felt a little upset at the idea that Dean might be pissed at him. They squabbled often, but they rarely fought. The cold looks he’d been getting from Dean the day before led him to believe this would be one of the latter.

Once he started to paint, his mind refocused on Meg. He’d drawn her often enough now that he could recreate her face from memory. The way the light caught in her dark curls. The dimples in her cheeks and how different they were from Dean’s. Her eyes were so different from his too. Where his were clear and bright, hers were almost black and deeply mysterious.

An hour and a half later, he had most of Meg’s portrait added to his locker painting. Her whole body was complete and her hair was nearly done. He only had to finish a few features and the painting would be complete. He worked another fifteen minutes or so, adding highlights and shadows. He’d have kept working, except Dick Roman suddenly walked up from the side hallway and turned off the stereo.

“Hey there, Castiel. How’s it going?” Dick asked with a broad smile.

Without missing a beat, Cas covered his painting with the drop cloth he kept it under when he wasn’t working, and set the painting to the side.

“What’s wrong? You seem nervous.”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” Cas spared him only a glance, as he started cleaning up his brushes, hoping to keep Dick’s focus off the painting he’d been working on.

“You always get to school this early?”

“No. Do you?”

Cas knew the answer already. What he didn’t know was how Dick had known he’d be there. Normally, Dean drove him, but today he’d gotten a ride from his father, so there was no car outside to give him away.

“Nope, just looking for you.” His smile widened more.

“Oh? And why is that?” To say Cas was wary was an understatement.

“I wanted to talk to you.” Glancing at the painting, Dick made a face. “Not about art, obviously.” He sniffed, shark’s smile returning. “Listen, Castiel, I wanted you to know I’m completely cool with the whole situation with you and Meg, okay?”

“Really?” The deadpan way Cas asked made it less a question and more a sarcastic expression of utter disbelief.

“Really! Truthfully, I’ve been looking for a less messy way to extricate myself from this relationship with Meg for a while.”

“Right,” Cas scoffed.

“It’s true. She and I have a history and I’d like for the two of us to remain friends. To that end, I’d like you to bring her by the party I’m throwing at my house on Friday. My parents are out of town, so it’s going to be fairly big event. Come by with Meg, have a few drinks, show the rest of the crowd that she and I and you and I are on fine terms... done deal.”

“Why?”

“Castiel, I thought you were smart. Maybe stories of your intellect have been exaggerated because I just _told_ you why.” The smile remained in place, but it had a more visible edge to it.

“Stories of your intellect have been charitable, but I think even you can understand why I would question your motives,” Cas bit back.

“Ouch!” Dick said with a grin. “I don’t like to look bad.” His grin hardened, teeth looking sharp as he leaned forward. “You stealing my girlfriend—regardless of my wanting out of things with her—makes me look bad.” He leaned back again, sharpness disappearing. “On the other hand, if you and I appear on friendly terms, it makes me look better, do you see?”

“Fine. I’ll ask Meg—”

“Already done. She’s on board. Party starts at seven.” Dick smiled again and left, not even bothering to wait for Cas’s answer.

“Great,” Cas told the empty room. He looked over at his painting and sighed. He’d have to finish it after school.

***

Dean hadn’t spoken to Cas since the episode with the car. It had been several days and, though Dean had admittedly gotten Sam to lie when Cas called, Dean had been a little more pissed that Cas had only tried once. So when Ash called to say that Cas was at Club Rugaru by himself, Dean jumped at the chance to confront him.

Obviously, Meg was already having an effect on Cas and Dean’s friendship and they hadn’t even gone out on their “date” yet. Dean had heard the rumors and sifted through the information with a trained ear, separating the outrageous—everything from the idea Meg had cheated on Dick with Cas and was pregnant to Cas and Dick were secretly an item and using Meg as their beard—from the likely. From all accounts, Meg had gone over to Cas because she was avoiding Dick that night. She’d been angry and the acceptance of the date had most likely been spite-driven. It didn’t make Dean feel great for Cas, but on the other hand, what did Cas really expect? Did he really think Meg knew or cared who he was?

The rumors that scared him were the ones that he wasn’t sure whether to believe, like the one saying Meg had set Cas up so that Dick and his cronies could smash his face in at their party. He didn’t want to believe Meg was that evil, but he knew Dick was.

All these thoughts raged through his mind as he drove to the club. He allowed himself a rare cigarette on the walk from the car to the club, mainly because he knew how much it irritated Cas. As soon as he walked in, he spotted Cas and went straight into Confrontational Asshole Mode.

“Since when do Chuck and Becks let the wee ones out on school nights? Don’t you have college brochures to masturbate over or something?”

Cas made a disgusted face. “You’re the child here, from what I can see. I’m waiting for Meg to arrive.”

Dean laughed, looking around at the indy band on stage and the too-cute decor. “Meg Masters is coming _here_.” He didn’t make it a question, just looked at Cas if to ask _Are you fucking serious right now?_ “Did she lose a bet?”

“Look, Dean, I haven’t had the greatest day, so if you’re going to start a fight with me and make me feel bad, could you do it tomorrow instead? Please?”

Cas looked so beaten down that Dean wanted to agree, but he knew he couldn’t. The past few days had been hell on him and Cas seemed oblivious.

“She said she’d meet you?”

Cas sighed. “Not exactly.”

“Right.” Dean snorted. “ _Maybe_ ,” he said, dragging the word out. “She doesn’t like you as much as you’d like to believe.” He knew it was cruel as he said it, but dammit, Cas was being so blind.

Cas’s face went blank. “Maybe not.”

“We haven’t talked in almost a week, man. Do you even care?” Dean dropped his eyes, laying his cigarette in the ashtray. “We’ve been talking every damn day since—”

Cas grabbed the cigarette and crushed it out, flicking the butt away. “This isn’t the third grade, Dean.”

His cold tone and hard eyes stung, so Dean lashed out.

“She doesn’t care about you, you know. Doesn’t even like you. It’s a fucking joke. All of it.”

“You’re an expert on relationships now?”

“Fuck you, Cas.” He was more than a little bitter now. “I’d bet my car on her screwing you over, but you go ahead and be a fool, like I warned you about.”

“You don’t want to make bets you’re not sure of.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure enough of this one.” Tears sprang into his eyes and he did his best to hold them back. He dropped his voice, letting the anger drain away. “The past few days I’ve had a lot of time to think and I had this epiphany I didn’t really wanna accept, you know?” He sniffed and looked over at the band. “I think we’d do a lot better if we didn’t hang out so much anymore.”

“What?” Cas looked pale. He frowned. “Why?”

“Because we’re making each other nuts.” He took a deep breath that shook on the brink of a sob."I'd rather not have you around, and us stay friends, than to keep hanging around with you and it make you hate me."

"Dean, what are you talking about? Where is this coming from?"

"I can't afford to have you hating me, Cas!” He ran a savage hand back through his hair. “The only fucking things I care about are my drums, my car, my brother... and you.” He was very nearly crying by the end of it. “So if I need to stay away from you to keep you having good feelings about me, then that's what I'm gonna do."

"Dean--"

He hardened his face. "Later, Cas."

"Dean? Dean!"

Dean jumped up and ran toward the door, looking back at Cas once because he couldn’t leave without seeing if Cas actually cared. It was obvious from his face that he did, and that just made it all worse. Dean ran all the way back to his car and jumped inside. Once the door closed, he lost it. The tears came and he sobbed so hard it hurt his throat.

“Fuck!” he yelled, banging his fists on the steering wheel.

Cas had been the one constant in his life since he was eight years old. They’d been joined at the hip for ten years. What the hell was he supposed to do without his best friend? School would be over in a few months and Cas would be heading to art school. Why couldn’t they have had these last few months together?

After he cried until his whole head hurt, the tears dried up. He wiped his face on some napkins from the glove box. Then he started the car and headed home, hoping like hell neither his father or Adam would be awake to see his face. Sam would be okay. Hell, he might even tell him what was wrong. The others, though. All they’d do was mock him.

“What a shitty fucking life,” he muttered, driving under a flickering street light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I MISS YOU PLEASE DON'T BE MAD ♥♥♥


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas is reminded how much of a dick Dick is, and how good of a friend Dean is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know how late I am in posting. I've been on the road so much I don't even know if I've responded to any messages yet. I'm the worst. This also marks the last finished chapter, so I better get to writing, so you guys have stuff to read when I inevitably post later again ;)

Cas was still reeling from the fight with Dean a couple of days later. Seeing Dean with Ash had been strange already and left him feeling unsettled, but now Dean didn’t even seem to want to be friends. Cas didn’t know how to deal with that. Dean was half of him. They’d been inseparable since they were little kids. It was unthinkable that now Dean could just not be in his life anymore.

That was why he was half-lying, half-sitting in his bed, sketching pictures of Dean. Dean’s friendship had been the only non-family constant in his life besides art. It meant everything to him. Why was his seeing Meg causing such a rift between them? He felt guilt wash over him in wave after wave as he thought about how obsessed with his crush he’d been lately. He hadn’t exactly been maintaining their friendship. He’d blown off Dean’s calls and visits more than once since Meg had caught his attention. How could he blame Dean for feeling like he didn’t care?

“I am such an asshole,” he murmured to himself as he sketched in Dean’s lips and remembered the things he’d said to Dean at the club.

That third grade comment had been cruel and he’d known it. He’d seen how deep it cut Dean. It had been a shitty thing to say. Dean had wanted reassurance and what had Cas offered in its place? A reason to feel insecure in their friendship.

He started to erase a line in Dean’s lips—his drawing had not done them justice and he wanted to get it right—when his door opened and Gabriel walked in.

“Gabriel, do you _ever_ knock?” He was so depressed that there wasn’t even much heat behind it.

“I figured if I knocked, you’d send me away.” Gabriel was not being his normal sassy self. He bit his lip and gnawed at it. “I didn’t want that because I really need to talk to you.”

Cas closed his sketchbook, pencil inside and set it onto the bed. He sat up straighter and looked at Gabriel carefully. His brother’s cheeks were red and his eyes looked somber. This was not at all normal. He couldn’t remember ever seeing Gabriel looking so serious.

“What’s going on, Gabriel?”

“I was at the mall, with Kali and some other people. And I was talking crap, like always. Somebody brought up the date with Meg and I was bullshitting about how I was gonna ride the coattails of your popularity.” He gave a half laugh that scared Cas a little. “Long story short, they saw Dick sitting with his goons and basically challenged my BS and I had to go over there to pretend I was in with them.” Gabriel shook his head a little, eyes getting a faraway look in them.

“All right,” Cas said slowly, wondering if Dick had done something to his brother that he’d have to find a way to avenge.

“It’s all a big joke, Cas. They’re gonna kick your ass. At the party. Meg is... she’s only going out with you so that she can bring you to the party so they can fuck you up. I’m sorry, Cas, I don’t—”

“You’re not lying just to be an asshole right now?”

“I wish I was,” Gabriel said, voice soft.

Cas felt sick. He couldn’t believe he’d been so wrong about Meg, but if she would agree to this plan of Dick’s, she was clearly as evil as he was. He shook it off for now.

“Thanks, Gabriel.”

His brother left as quietly as he’d arrived and Cas sat on his bed for only another thirty seconds or so before he was up and moving out the door. There was only one person who could make this feel better. Regardless of what Dean had said, they were still best friends. Armed with the knowledge that Dean had called the situation accurately and would allow Cas inside, if only to gloat over being right, Cas headed for his friend’s house.

As soon as he got close to the yard, he could hear the drums. The nearer he got to the house, the louder they became. Not wanting to risk running into the rest of the Winchesters, Cas did as he had done so many times before and found the key Dean kept for emergencies, hidden behind a loose brick on the decorative border to a garden that hadn’t had flowers since the two boys had been friends.

He let himself into the back door and crept down the hallway toward Dean’s room. He knew it was unlikely anyone could hear him, but he didn’t want anyone to see him, either. He knocked, expecting no answer and getting none. Then he used the key that had been on his keychain since he was twelve to unlock Dean’s bedroom door and let himself inside.

With the seal broken, the drumming sound was twice as loud. Cas quickly shut the door behind him, waiting for Dean to notice him and to stop playing. It took a few more beats for Dean to catch on. His eyes widened, then narrowed. He grabbed both sticks in one hand, wiping sweat from his brow with the other.

“To what do I owe this unexpected visit?” Dean asked glibly. His eyes were wounded and wary, though.

Cas felt like complete shit. He’d been so blind.

“You were right. About Meg. It’s all a big ruse to get me over to Dick’s place so he and his cohorts can pound my face in.”

Dean immediately looked sympathetic. “Sorry, man. At least you found out now, so you can call it off, right?”

“I’m not going to call it off, Dean.” Cas hadn’t realized the truth of the statement until it was out of his mouth.

“Cas, dude, what the fuck are you talking about? Of course you are.” Dean set down his sticks and walked around the drums. “You’re okay in a fight, but not when you’re outnumbered five to one.”

“I’m not afraid of them.”

“Then you’re an idiot. A few more months and you’re out of here. Gone to art school. Just let it ride till then.”

“Dean, I’m not going to let them push me around anymore. Dick came to the art room personally to invite me to that party. He’s that committed to trying to fuck me up. I’m not going to hide from him. I have... I have contingency plans.” Cas didn’t want to elaborate, but on the way over, he’d started formulating an idea.

Dean sighed. “Fine.” He walked over and collapsed on his bed, arms behind his head.

Cas, as he had a million times over the course of their friendship, climbed up beside him, leaning his head on Dean’s closest elbow. He looked over at Dean.

“I’m sorry I was such an assbutt, Dean.”

“Yeah, well.”

“You always hurt the ones you love, right?” Cas asked, turning away again.

Dean scoffed. “You beating the hell out of Meg anytime soon? ‘Cause I’m so in.”

Cas could only laugh. As bad as his night had gone, at least he had Dean back. The girl he had feelings for might be a demon straight from hell, but at least he had his best friend again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you! ♥♥♥ Whisper sweet nothings in my comment box...


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam figures it out. Cas visits the bank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting close to the good stuff, kiddos. 
> 
> Sorry for the late post, but my life has gotten very complicated just lately. Like, might have to move back in with my mom complicated. So, posting will be sporadic at best and I'm sorry. I'll try to keep this weekly, as best I can.

Dean couldn’t seem to find the rhythm on his drums. He was still reeling from the past few days. Cas was with someone. Then he and Dean weren’t friends. Now, Dean didn’t know what was going on with Cas and Meg, but he had Cas back in his life, at least. It was a nice feeling, even if he still felt uncertainty tainting everything. He’d always thought he and Cas were a solid, unbreakable thing. The last week had shaken him.

“Hey, Dean, can I get a ride to the library?” Sam interrupted his thoughts.

“Uh, yeah. Just let me pack up.” He set his sticks in the case he kept for them and turned off radio. “Let’s go.” Dean snatched up his keys and wallet and they were rolling out the front door.

“I really appreciate this on such short notice,” Sam said when they got into the car. “Kevin’s mom was supposed to pick me up, but at the last minute she had to work—”

“It’s cool, Sam. I wasn’t busy or anything.” He was in such a weird mood, he spoke without thinking. “I needed a chance to get out of my head, anyway, honestly.”

“Everything okay?”

Sam asked it nonchalantly, but Dean could see his reflection in the mirror. He actually cared, but was still afraid to spook Dean away. Dean decided he was tired of bottling everything up. Maybe, despite his young age, his brother could shed some light on his situation.

“Yeah, I dunno. Cas and me aren’t really getting along great these days. There’s a girl he likes and she’s not good for him and... I mean, I think we’re okay now, but it was tense for a while and... I don’t know.” _And I’m in love with him_ was what Dean wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure Sam was ready for the whole sexuality revelation.

Sam sat quietly for a full minute, chewing his lip. When he spoke, Dean actually jumped because he’d thought his brother wasn’t going to say anything.

“Dean? Can I ask you something? You might not like it, if I’m wrong.”

“Uh, yeah. Go ahead.” He couldn’t think what Sam might ask. At this point, it was just nice to be talking at all.

“Are you... is Cas... do you think of him as more than a friend?”

They rolled up to a red light just as he asked, and Dean turned to look at his brother. Sam’s eyes as he looked back toward Dean were wide and scared, but he held Dean’s gaze. Dean searched, but could find no trace of condemnation there.

Dean whipped his head around when he saw the light change. His heart was pounding and he could hear the ocean in his ears. Then words bubbled up without his prior consent.

“Oh, God, Sam, you have no idea.” He could feel fear settle over his own features. He waited for a response, wondering if his heart had stopped or turned to ice or both.

“Does he know?”

Dean had to laugh at that. “No. No way. And I’m keeping it that way. He likes this Meg chick.”

“Does he even know you’re not straight?”

Dean sniffed and stared off to the left. “Yeah. He knows. And for the record, neither is he.”

“But you guys never... I don’t know, experimented with each other?”

Dean felt himself blush down to his feet. “What? Dude! That’s like—why would you—shut up!”

But Sam’s question was fair. More to the point, though, it planted the seed of an idea in Dean’s head. Meg might have Cas’s attention right now, but just maybe there was a way _Dean_ could get his attention instead. Even if only for a moment, maybe it would be long enough to make Cas see him differently.

***

Cas had been brooding all night. He’d left Dean’s house feeling strange, but he couldn’t examine that too closely. Right now, his focus was on getting back at Dick and also making Meg sorry for her part in the whole thing. He wasn’t quite sure what he felt for her anymore. He still wanted to believe she was better than Dick and the rest, but it was difficult to maintain that view just at the moment.

With those thoughts in his mind, he found her on the quad the next morning. He called out to her and she didn’t respond the first time, so he ran up and put his hand on her arm.

“Meg, what time do you want me to pick you up on Friday?”

Meg cast her gaze toward Ruby and another girl who were sitting together talking nearby. They ignored her.

Cas frowned. “Is it necessary to consult your friends in order to decide when to go out?”

Meg laughed, but Cas could tell it was forced. “What? No, I was... um, pick me up whenever.”

“I should arrive about seven-thirty. If that’s not acceptable, then you can give me a call to reschedule.”

Cas turned and walked away, but not before he noticed that Ruby and the other girl were snubbing Meg completely. He didn’t feel great about that, but it wasn’t his problem.

After school, Dean drove him to the bank. Cas cashed out all his bonds and T-Bills. His heart was racing the whole time and he felt a little nauseated, thinking about the fight it was going to cause with his father once he found out, but he didn’t let that stop him. He had plans for the money, and that was that.

“How hard is your dad gonna kill you for this?” Dean asked as they drove home.

“They have not yet invented a machine calibrated for that intensity.”

“So what the hell is Chuck’s deal with this money, anyway?”

Cas shook his head. “It’s just very important to him that his son attends college.”

“Because he didn’t?”

“Because he _couldn’t_. His parents couldn’t afford to send him.”

Dean nodded, chewing his lip. “Gonna kill you, regardless.”

“Yes.”

As they pulled into the driveway, Dean asked, “What is it about Meg, Cas? Her body? Her face?”

“Neither. Both. I don’t know. Everything, I suppose.” He wasn’t sure what it was. It might have been solely the desire to save her from Dick, but he didn’t say as much out loud.

“You know, Granma Deanna used to tell me that when I grew up, I’d have girls lining up down the street to date me.”

Cas huffed and peered at his friend over the top of his Aviators. “Oh, yeah? What happened there?”

“I took up with a weird, dorky little guy who ran ‘em all off.”

Cas grinned. “Was it worth the trade?”

“I think so, yeah.”

When Dean didn’t smile back, Cas’s own smile dimmed. Did Dean have feelings for him?

“Except when I gotta run your ass all over town looking for tail. Get outta my car, man, I got a job interview to get to.”

Cas scoffed and open the door, giving Dean an eye roll. “You’ll go shopping with me tomorrow?” he asked through the window after he was out of the car.

“Yep. We still bailing after lunch?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Awesome. See you then, man. Wish me luck!” Dean called as he pulled out.

Cas took a deep breath and walked up the drive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ♥ you & I still live for your comments. ♥♥♥


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean gets a job and gives Cas a little help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I am splitting up my favorite scene from the movie here because I'm evil. On the plus side - early posting!

Dean was nervous as hell as he went to the interview. He wasn’t even sure why. It was just a crappy little mailroom job at a local office. Wasn’t like it was his dream job or anything. He just really needed the money—and if Cas ended up dating Meg, which was still sadly a possibility, he’d need the distraction.

He introduced himself at the front desk and was told to wait on the couch, next to a potted fern. He flipped through the magazines, but nothing caught his interest. He fiddled and fidgeted, praying to be called back soon, before he actually started to sweat through his clothes.

He heard the door to the office behind the receptionist open, and then her intercom buzzed. He couldn’t hear what was said, but she looked in his direction. He saw movement from the doorway and looked that way.

“Mr. Winchest—” the receptionist started, just as Ash said, “Dean?” from the doorway.

Ash ducked back inside for a second before beckoning Dean forward. Dean frowned, glancing at the receptionist. She shrugged and nodded.

“Hey, man. You here for the mail room job too?”

Ash laughed. “No, bro, I’m here visiting my pops.” He angled himself so that he was looking inside the office, but this time spoke loudly enough that Dean could hear. “Dad, this is my friend Dean, the one I told you about? You should give him a shot at that research assistant job instead. He’d be really good at it.”

Dean wasn’t so sure. “Aw, man, thanks, but—”

“Come on in, Mr. Winchester,” said the man behind the huge silver desk inside the office. “If Ash says you’re qualified, I’m sure that you are, but why don’t we talk for a bit, hm? Ashton, you get on home now. Your mother will worry.”

“Yeah, okay. Just let me say bye to Dean.” He pulled Dean back out of the doorway by the arm and dropped his voice. “So, listen, what I said about my dad being against affection, um, that wasn’t strictly....” He trailed off, looking a little scared and shrugged.

“Not strictly true?” Dean laughed. “It’s cool, man. I don’t think it’s gonna come up during the interview, anyway.”

“No, yeah, I just... I was trying to sound different or something, I don’t know.”

“Ash, it’s cool. I won’t hold it against you. And thanks for, you know. The vote of confidence.”

“Yeah, man, any time. I mean, really, you’re totally qualified. And it pays way better.” He glanced back into the office and waved. “I better go. See you around, Dean.” The smile he gave Dean was friendly, if just a little sad around the edges.

“See you, Ash.”

Dean took a deep breath, blew it out with a huff and walked into the office.

***

When Cas got out to the parking lot just after lunch, Dean was waiting on the hood of his car, looking as happy as Cas had seen him recently.

“Still excited about the new job, then?”

“You kidding? Dude, I’m so stoked. It was so cool of Ash to help me out with his dad like that.”

Cas cleared his throat and dropped his gaze, climbing into the car. “So, um, you and Ash. Are you together, then?”

Dean smiled slightly as he started the car. “Nah. We had a test kiss. No spark, so.”

“Oh.” Cas frowned, slightly confused by the explanation and for some reason a little uncomfortable.

“So, where to next?”

“Jewelry store.”

“Crowley’s?”

“That will do, yes.”

Cas had some of the money he’d cashed out, practically burning a hole in his pocket. Still, the prices made him feel a little dizzy. Then he saw they were having a sale and felt a little better. It took him a while, but he finally found a display with silver bracelets.

“I’m thinking of this one,” he told Dean, indicating one very similar to the one of Ruby’s that Meg had been wearing on the car ride.

“Nah, get that one,” Dean said, pointing to another bracelet in the same style.

Where the first bracelet had only three medium diamonds, the one Dean showed him had a sapphire on one end and an emerald on the other, with a diamond in the middle. It was also a less delicate bracelet than the other one, with a sturdier chain.

“Can I help you boys?” The accent was British, and the attitude was haughty.

“Yes. I’d like to purchase this bracelet please.”

“Ah. Excellent choice.” The man actually seemed somewhat impressed. “It’s not cheap, you understand. Quality never is. Something for a—” He broke eye contact with Cas and looked Dean up and down derisively. “—lady friend?”

“If I pay more for it, will you stop talking and put it in a box?”

“Touchy, touchy. You’d think I’d get a little more respect, given that my name is on the bloody door.” Crowley smirked. “Still, customers never being wrong and all that.”

After what felt like far too much time later, Cas was back at work, Dean having driven him to all his other errands and then the garage from Crowley’s. He wanted to blow off work, but since he’d just spent about half of the money he’d been saving up, he figured he’d better get to work on earning it back.

“So,” Dean began when Cas started to work on his first oil change. “You’ve covered most contingencies, I think. You’ve set up a pretty killer date for before the party where you intend to get your dumbass kicked.”

“Dean—”

Dean held up a hand. “Ah-bahp-bahp. I’m just saying.” He stepped over and leaned against the front tire of the car Cas was working on. “Have you thought about what you’re gonna talk to Meg about on this date of yours?”

“Not too much. I don’t want to rehearse it. It will come out sounding like a speech and I don’t want that. I plan to go with my gut.”

Cas glanced at Dean and found him chewing his lip and studying the ground.

“Not to be weird, Cas, but... I’ve known you long enough to know you don’t exactly have a lot of field experience with girls. What if the evening goes well and Ms. Masters wants a good night smooch?”

Cas smirked. “Well, then, I suppose I will be forced to ‘smooch’ with her.”

Dean snorted. “Dude, no offense, but Meg Masters ain’t no minor leaguer. She’s been battin’ with the big boys and your fastball isn’t going to impress her.”

“I have no idea what any of that means, Dean.”

“Cas. She’s more than kissed a lot of people.”

“I am aware, Dean.” Cas frowned. “I don’t think it matters. I know the principles. I have kissed people before.”

“ _Person_ , Cas. You’ve kissed one person.”

Cas glared at Dean. “Your point.”

“Nothing, man.” Dean walked over and sat down on a stool to the side of the bay. “I was going to offer to help you out, but you seem comfortable. So, awesome.” Dean grinned.

Cas stared at Dean, suddenly concerned about his lack of prowess. “Help me out how?”

“Well, I know I ain’t Meg Masters,” Dean said, putting on a falsetto voice. “But I do have a mouth. Lips, tongue, the whole shebang.”

“Ha! Yes, I am aware. You’d... do that? Let me kiss you, even though it’s to help me with Meg, who you don’t like?”

“I’m your _friend_ , Cas. How I feel about her is not the issue. I want you to be happy and have the best chance at... whatever it is you’re looking for.”

“Okay. Yes. Please help me.”

“All right, um.” Dean cleared his throat. “Come here. Stand between my knees. Do you know what to do with your hands?”

“It depends—”

“Nope. Face. You put them on her face. Now, come on. Come over here.”

When Cas didn’t immediately comply, Dean raised his eyebrows. Cas scrambled over and stood between Dean’s knees, then put his hands onto Dean’s face. He felt ridiculous.

“All right, look into my eyes.”

Cas stared down into Dean’s eyes, as he’d done half a million times before, but for some reason it felt different and he had to look away. A nervous laugh bubbled up as he dropped his gaze.

“Fine, man. If you can’t be mature about this, we can—”

“No! I’m sorry. You’re right.” Cas got back into position.

“Okay, now, um, lean in,” Dean said, voice a little softer.

“How do you know all of this, Dean?” Cas asked without thinking.

“Hey, man, I kept telling you to watch more TV.” He sniffed. “Close your eyes.” Dean’s voice was barely above a whisper.

Cas closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need all the loves, darlings. Come give me schmoops and things? ♥♥♥


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "And then they kiss." Chuck finds out about the money.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the cliffhanger was worth the pay off. We still have the whole date left to go and then a little bit of resolution. Hope everyone is enjoying the ride.

It was actually working. Cas was standing right in front of him, holding his face. Dean was about to kiss his best friend and possibly change everything forever.

“Close your eyes,” he managed to say, despite what the warmth of Cas’s work-rough hands was doing to his insides.

He put his own hands on Cas’s shoulders and carefully leaned forward and up. The stool made Dean a couple of inches shorter than Cas for once, but Dean hardly noticed. Less than a breath separated them. Then his lips brushed Cas’s full, flush ones, so different from his hands in their softness and how they gave just slightly under the pressure of his.

He wasn’t sure who flinched, but someone did. When it happened, they both opened their mouths just slightly. Then he and Cas were sharing breath for a moment before Cas’s tongue slipped into his mouth, forcefully without being rough about it. Dean made a tiny sound in his throat and returned fire. One of Cas’s hands slid backward into his hair and tightened, pulling him closer and flooding Dean’s senses even further.

When he realized he was dragging Cas forward with his legs, toward his growing erection, he pushed back and broke the kiss. He had a second to thrill at the heavy-lidded dazed expression on Cas’s face before he was shoving Cas back and stepping away quickly.

“Okay, then, I think you’re good.”

Cas’s expression cleared and he laughed slightly. “Dean, are you blushing?”

“Yeah, right.”

“I don’t mean to tease. I mean, that was nice. You’re very handsome.”

He threw up a hand, waving Cas off, and walked away. Dean’s heart was pounding so hard, he could scarcely breathe. He was in no condition to judge whether Cas meant the things he said or was trying to let Dean down gently about the test kiss being a colossal failure as far as Cas was concerned. He got into the Impala and drove down the street. He hadn’t gone very far when he pulled to the side of the road and threw the car into park.

“Fuck,” he whispered.

His hand lifted up of its own accord and pressed his fingers to lips that still tingled where Cas’s had touched them. He’d known he was attracted to Cas, but he’d never felt anything like _that_. Was that what Ash had been hoping for? His whole body was on fire. It was like everything he felt for Cas had been liquified and injected into his blood stream and now he could feel it with every beat of his heart.

“I am so screwed. I am so goddamned screwed.”

***

Cas was still feeling out of it by the time he got home. The kiss with Dean had left him vaguely unsettled. He’d never kissed another guy before, so he supposed some strangeness was to be expected. He got into the shower to prepare for his date, not really thinking about much else besides getting clean. As he soaped up, though, the kiss came back to him and before he knew it, his erection was returning.

Because they only had one upstairs bathroom, he didn’t often indulge in self-love while he was showering. Since he had the radio on, though, and he had a situation, he decided he might give in, just this once. He wouldn’t think about Dean, obviously, but he’d take care of his needs, regardless. He had just wrapped a hand around himself when the water turned scalding hot.

“Fuck!” He whipped open the shower curtain to find his father, face stony, standing with his fingers still on the toilet handle.

“Get out. We need to talk.”

 _Fuck_. Chuck must have found out about the money already. Cas rushed to dry off and get dressed. He took a deep breath and headed to his room.

“Went to the bank today. Wanted to see what your balance was, know how close you were to having your freshman tuition. Know what they told me?”

“Dad—”

“I don’t know what’s going on with you, Cas, but you’re going to put that money back.”

“I can’t do that. The money is gone and—”

“Maybe you didn’t hear me. You’re putting the money back in the bank. I don’t care what you bought. You’re returning it. Right now.”

“Dad. I can’t return anything. I didn’t buy material goods. I—”

“ _Cas._ ” Chuck’s voice was deadly calm. “Where is the fucking _college money_?” His eyes were blazing with anger. “How dare you take that mon—”

“Are you serious?! I earned that money, Dad! Every penny of it came from the work of _my_ hands!” He took a deep breath when he saw his father flinch, and tried to calm his voice. “My _dirty_ hands, as you pointed out. I’m going to earn more of it and I’m going to save up and go to art school, but I’m not going to college. I’m using the money for something I need more right now.”

“Why, Cas?” His eyes were pleading now. “I wanted so much more for you.”

“Dad, college was a thing you wanted. I don’t want college. I want art. I’ll never be happy without it. That’s the life I want. And right now... there’s a thing I have to do. And it’s taken a lot of the money. Not all of it, but a lot. I’ll replace the rest, once I see what else I need.” He sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Chuck laughed. “Why didn’t you? I mean, obviously I reacted with poise and grace.” He closed his eyes and appeared to steady himself. “I don’t understand, Cas. But... I know you’re not dumb. You promise you’re not in some kind of trouble?”

“No, Dad, I swear it. I’m just... trying to improve my life a little bit and maybe someone else’s along the way.”

Chuck nodded. “All right. I’m going to trust you here, but from now on, don’t bullshit me, huh?”

Cas smiled. “I won’t. Promise.”

“Cas—”

“Gabriel, leave your brother alone,” Chuck snapped as Gabe appeared in the doorway.

Gabriel’s face was all innocence. “I was just coming to tell him that Dean’s here!”

Chuck gave him a look of disbelief and then huffed out the door, clapping Cas on the shoulder as he went.

“Good luck tonight, bro. We’re all rooting for you. Try not to get your face smashed in, yeah?”

“Thanks, Gabe.”  
“Want me to lock up for you, so you can get out of here?”

“Yes, please.”

Cas finished getting ready in record time. When he got downstairs, Dean was waiting by the Impala, wearing a well-fitted chauffeur’s uniform. Cas flashed on the kiss for a brief second, but shoved it aside as Dean grinned and swept open the door.

“ _Sir_ ,” Dean said with mock solemnity as he waited for Cas to climb in.

“You’re an idiot,” Cas said with a grin.

“Whatever. My grandma would be impressed that I’m picking up a hot girl, at least. She doesn’t have to know it’s for someone else.” He winked and closed Cas’s door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life's hard right now. Send me some cuddles? I love you to pieces. ♥♥♥


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Big Date: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Hope it's worth it. Miss your faces (icons, whatever).

As he waited for Cas to walk outside, Dean’s heart was pounding for some reason. He was leaning against the Impala, trying to look nonchalant. He was afraid he was failing miserably. Mostly because he wanted so desperately for Cas to see him in his suit and think he looked good. He wanted—or maybe it was needed—for Cas to think of him differently, see him differently, now that they’d shared what was—for Dean, at least—a tremendous kiss. 

When Cas walked outside at last, Dean was pretty sure he noticed Cas give him a subtle double take, followed by an appreciative, if brief, once over. He was feeling pretty good about it, even after they picked up Meg from her house and headed to the restaurant. The pair of them were doing some sort of angry flirting Dean didn’t quite understand, but he didn’t feel any jealousy over it. They were clearly feeling more antagonism than sexual tension and that was just fine with him.

Cas hung back for a moment to speak with him before he took Meg into _Chez Jacque._ “You can leave and come back if you want. I’m not sure how long we’ll be, but at least an hour.”

“It’s cool.” He spied some other drivers hanging out next to the building. “I’ll find something to do. Knock her dead!” he said with a grin. Then he let his face go serious and dropped his voice. “No, seriously. And if that doesn’t work, maybe a fork to the chest.” Then he grinned again and slapped Cas on the arm.

He played dice with the other drivers until he’d taken most of their money and all of their dignity. He was feeling fairly great until he stepped back to the front of the restaurant and spied Cas and Meg, laughing at some shared joke.

Maybe _he_ was the one getting the fork to the chest. It felt like it.

He tried not to, but he watched them until they started leaving. His stomach was roiling and he was angry. He’d been by Cas’s side since they were eight and he’d always believed that eventually Cas would see him standing there and Cas would finally be his and now this—this—this... _she-devil_ had come and fucked it all up.

Why the hell had he agreed to do this?

“Hey, I brought you a cheeseburger and fries, if you’re hungry.” Cas held out the sack with a small smile.

“Well, you know eating in the Impala is my favorite thing,” he mumbled, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“I assumed you could eat it outside at the next stop.” Cas said, looking confused as he started to walk away.

“Can a get a hall pass to drain the lizard?” Dean couldn’t resist calling out.

Cas smiled down into the car and held up a finger at Meg before closing the door.

“Dean?” he asked, voice deceptively calm.

“’S’up, Cas?”

“Exactly my question. What the hell is up with you? I wanted to hire a driver and you said you’d be happy to do it and let us use your car.”

“Nothing’s up. I’m fine.” He took a deep breath, not wanting to keep fighting with Cas. He knew that definitely was _not_ the way to win his heart. “Sorry. Just a little hungry, I guess. It’s making me cranky.”

Cas’s eyes softened and he smiled. “You are kind of a rage monster when you haven’t eaten. Ready?”

Dean nodded and got into the car. While Cas walked around the car, Dean turned his attention—and his rage, if he was honest—toward Meg, who was checking her makeup in a little compact.

“Let me know if the smell of my meat sandwich is too much for you to handle.” He gave her a salacious wink that had her rolling her eyes.

“Not likely.”

Cas opened his door and Dean started the engine. He behaved while Meg checked her eye makeup, but when she went to put on her lipstick, he couldn’t resist tapping the brakes a little too hard. He didn’t look in the rearview right away to assess the damage, even though he wanted to see it very much. He just called a bored “Sorry” into the back and listened with no shortage of glee as Cas looked for a napkin to help her wipe her face. When he did finally dare to glance back, he saw her rubbing furiously at a large pink streak on her cheekbone. He had to cover his laugh with a coughing fit.

After that, he kept himself in check. He knew any further mishaps would not only be beyond childish, but also obvious to Cas. Figuring he’d made his point anyway, he drove carefully. He couldn’t stop himself from pulling Meg aside when they got out at the Art Center, though.

“Fuck with him and I’ll fuck you up, got it?”

Meg looked at him, shocked and confused, but never losing that smirk she perpetually had.

He watched them walk inside and then he took his food and walked over to a bench to eat. The food was really good and he was grateful to Cas for thinking of it. They hadn’t discussed it ahead of time, but leave it to Cas to be thoughtful like that. Just because he hadn’t been so thoughtful lately, didn’t mean Cas wasn’t one of the best people Dean had ever met.

Thinking of what a great person Cas was, Dean felt tears prick his eyes. He threw away his dinner trash and hurried to the car. He knew there was a painting of Meg hanging in the museum, so he probably had some time before they came out, but he was going to cry and he wanted to be in the shadows of the car when the tears came.

He thought of the smiles Cas had given Meg tonight. “Why can’t it be me who makes you smile like that?” he asked the empty car, letting loose the flood gates on his emotions.

Tears streamed down his face and he shook slightly with little sobs. This wasn’t like the gut-wrenching pain he’d felt after the club. These were tears of resignation. Cas had made his choice. Even after what Meg had helped plot to do, she was the one Cas had picked. Dean knew he had to accept it. It hurt like hell, but he’d get through it. Cas was still his friend. She couldn’t take that—Dean would never let her.

He was no longer crying twenty minutes later, when he snuck into the audience of the empty amphitheater where Cas and Meg were sitting on stage, but he wasn’t exactly jumping for joy either. Their heads were bent together and they were talking quietly. Dean felt his cheeseburger do a cartwheel in his stomach when Cas pulled out the jewelry store box with the bracelet inside. He watched Cas put it on her wrist and then he wanted to run out of the theater when they leaned in and kissed, but instead, tears returning, he quietly stood and walked to the restroom to clean his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, poodles. Anyone need a tissue? Poor Dean... Come say hi in the comments. ♥♥♥


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Big Date: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you didn't expect to see another chapter so soon, did you? Huh? Did you?? (I might be a tad excited...)
> 
> # WELL GUESS WHAT?!
> 
>   
>  ~~I finished this sucker and I will roll out the last chapter immediately after this one xD~~  
> 

The date was not going well at all. At the restaurant, before they’d even gotten their appetizers, he and Meg had started fighting. At the art museum, she was less than thrilled with the painting of her that he’d done. In both cases, he’d managed to salvage the situation, but only just.

And now, here they were again, arguing on the stage of the amphitheater.

Meg was shaking her head, her shoulders squared and her posture stiff.

“You think I don’t know what this is?” She scoffed. “Come on, Cassie-baby, I see through you!”

“What are you talking about? See through what?”

“Let me spell it out for you, loverboy. You barely know me. And I don’t think you’re the type to spend the big bucks because I’ve got a nice rack and a great behind. So what’s this all about, huh?” She laughed, dark curls bouncing as she shook her head from side to side in derision. “You wanna judge me for going after what I wanted, that’s cool. But don’t sit there and pretend that you’re not using me. Not for sex like Dick, that’s true. And not for jewelry and shiny things like I’ve been doing to Dick. But you want to get back at them. All of those people, all of my... friends....”

Here, she hesitated, voice wavering slightly. Her eyes were only shiny for a moment before she got control of her emotions again.

“All the ones with more money and a better social status than you... this date with me? This is your payback! Your big “fuck you” to the beautiful ones. So you may be many things, but you’re no angel.”

As she spoke, Cas couldn’t deny the things she was saying. She was almost one hundred percent right. He was pretty sure he did care about her, though. Like her, even. He was certainly attracted to her. He wondered, though, if it was enough to justify this date they were on. The money he’d spent. The amount he’d paid Benny alone would have made his father pass out.

“You’re right. I have no excuse.” He reached into his coat pocket. “But I do have a gift. And I know it doesn’t make up what I’ve done. And it’s not a bribe for anything. It’s just something I want you to have because I think you should be able to have things without... trading pieces of your soul for them.”

She snorted. “My soul? I think you’re a little confused on what it is Dick and I do together, sweetheart.” But she looked different now. Softer, somehow.

Cas held out the box and watched her open it. Her eyes went wide and she pushed the box back toward him. Her head shake was fast and violent.

“No, I can’t take that—”

“Meg. I’m not asking for anything in return. You’ve taken more expensive gifts from Dick, I’m sure—and I am equally sure he expected some recompense. I don’t. I only want you to have something nice.” He pushed the box back. “It’s very similar to the one you borrowed from Ruby, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but—”

“Here, can I at least put it on you? See if it fits?”

He slipped it over her wrist and clasped it. She surprised him with a kiss. The kiss was very good—Meg was nothing if not skilled—but Cas didn’t feel the way he’d expected to, all those times he’d imagined it. As they pulled apart, he could have sworn he saw Dean out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned, there was no one there.

 _Dean_.

That was the main fly in the ointment of the evening. Every time Cas had started to feel like the date was going well, he had stepped outside of where ever they were and Dean was there. Waiting for Cas. Looking gorgeous in his black uniform. Making Cas remember a very different kiss, over and over again.

Why was he suddenly having these feelings now? Dean didn’t want him back... did he?

When he looked back at Meg, she was giving him a look he couldn’t quite interpret.

“I got to admit, that is not the response I’m used to getting from my kisses.” She raised one eyebrow in question.

He smiled. “I assure you, your skills are not at all lacking. I just thought I saw something out there in the seats and got distracted. I apologize.” He stood and reached a hand down to help her up. “Besides. I told you I didn’t expect anything in return for the bracelet and I wanted you to know I meant that.”

She hummed in a way that said she wasn’t entirely convinced, but she let him lead her out of the theater without further comment. When they stepped to the parking lot, of course, there was Dean, who caught Cas’s gaze and held it. For a moment, Cas was transported back to their kiss. He shook himself out of it and broke eye contact.

“Where you two crazy kids wanna go next?” Dean slid off his perch on the car’s hood as he posed the question.

“Time to go to Dick’s party.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna drive you to get your face smashed in. Maybe Meggy here can drive you there. Since she had a hand in—”

“Hey! Meg didn’t plot it out with him. He didn’t consult her about it. He just used her to try to get me there. She didn’t have anything to do with it.” Cas’s voice was firm.

Dean glanced at Meg, who for once didn’t look defiant. In place of her usual smirk was a look of worry.

“He’s right about Dick pounding your face in, though. Let’s go some place else. Or just take me home. We don’t need to go to the party. Why let him win?”

“I know what I’m doing. He’s not going to just go away if I don’t show tonight. He’ll wait for me another time, when I’m not prepared.”

Meg still looked concerned, but she nodded and got into the car.

“Cas—”

“Please, Dean. I’ve got it covered, okay? I promise. It’s going to be fine.”

Dean stared into his eyes, searching for any chink in his confidence. Cas stared right back, this time not daring to break the connection. He was firm on this issue and he needed Dean on his side.

Finally, Dean sighed and started walking around the car. “Fine. But don’t expect a ride to your funeral. I’m busy that day.”

Cas only laughed and slid in beside Meg.

***

 

It sucked knowing Cas wasn’t backing down on this Dick Roman thing. Dean was terrified of something happening to Cas and not being able to protect him. Dick by himself probably wouldn’t have posed an issue, but he’d have all his goons by his side, and Dean wasn’t quite good enough a fighter to take on a whole squadron of assholes single-handed.

He regretted lashing out at Meg the way he had. He kept stealing little glances at her in the mirror, but she looked... different. It wasn’t defeat on her face, not exactly, but something was definitely up with her. She interacted with Cas when he spoke, but her normal acerbic wit was gone. In its place was a strange quiet Dean didn’t understand. When Cas wasn’t talking to her, she was staring out the window, looking thoughtful.

When they got to Dick’s house, Dean pulled into a space across the street from the long driveway leading up to the house. Then he and Meg both tried one more time to talk Cas out of going inside.

“Guys, I need you to trust me on this. Please?” Cas was asking them both, but he held Dean’s gaze at the end.

“All right. Can’t blame a guy for trying.” Dean grinned. “But if there’s gonna be a fight, I’m gonna grab a better seat.”

He left them to walk in by themselves, and headed up the manicured lawn to find a better vantage point—while still trying to stay out of sight and therefore trouble. The patio doors were wide open, giving him an excellent view of where Dick was sitting, holding court and semi-making out with his flavor of the minute. He found a bench nearby—not occupied by horny drunk teenagers presumably because of the proximity to a rather unpleasant-smelling pond—and took a seat.

He watched Cas and Meg walk through the front door and then saw one of Dick’s ugly minions run and whisper in his ear. He couldn’t hear what the minion said, but he heard Dick’s response clearly enough. He wanted Cas and Meg brought to him immediately.

“Welcome, children,” Dick said with his slimy grin. “I hope you’ve had a pleasant evening.” Turning to Cas, he asked, “Tell me, did you enjoy her blow job skills as much as I always did? She’s a real—”

“Watch your mouth,” Cas growled.

Dick snapped his fingers and two of his goons grabbed Cas by the arms.

“Look, Dick, what do you want?” Meg asked. “Leave him alone. Your beef is with me, right?”

“You know what I want, sweetheart.” He leaned close and smelled her hair, then leered as he rolled a strand between his fingers.

Dean didn’t hear her response because someone sat next to him just then.

“Hey there, hoss.”

It was Benny. When Dean moved to get up, Benny put a meaty hand on his shoulder and held him in place.

“Relax. Me and Cas, we’re buddies now. He told me specifically to lay off you and I’m going to. He didn’t ask for an apology, but I’m gonna give you one anyway.” He leaned close and whispered, “But if you tell anyone what I’m about to say, I’ll not only deny it, I’ll pound your head in, got it, chief?”

Dean nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“Picked on you because I thought you were kinda cute. Freaked me out. Took it out on you. Cas, though, talked to me about a little thing called bisexuality. So we’re cool. Cool?”

Just then Dick angrily told his asshole buddies to take Cas outside, the implication being that they would then proceed to beat the shit out of him.

“That’s my cue, brother,” Benny said with a wink. He slipped off toward the front door, followed by several of his friends.

Dean couldn’t hear all of what Benny said, but he did laugh when he heard him say something about Dick clearly living in a stable because why else was there so much horseshit. Then he saw Meg slap the hell out of Dick _twice._ Figuring it was about time to leave, he headed toward the driveway.

Knowing that Cas had asked Benny to leave him alone meant a lot. And having Cas’s friendship meant more than he could ever say. Maybe it would have to be good enough. He’d get over these feelings, right? Eventually. Maybe now that Cas and Meg might actually be dating, it would get easier. He certainly hoped so. He paused halfway down the driveway and turned around to wait for them. He felt tears looming, but he pushed them back. Plenty of time to grieve when he was home in his own bed. Or on the long walk home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will our boys ever figure it out? Stay tuned! Also, please leave your guesses in the comments and tip your fic authors with kudos. BLESS. Ps. I love you. ♥♥♥


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Big Date: Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, kiddos, this is it! I've left it open for a Coda/Timestamp type thing, but it will be a while. In case you missed it, there was a chapter posted immediately prior to this one, so READ THAT ONE FIRST. 
> 
> Thanks so much to GaelicBlue for the prompt and pushing me to write it and to Mahbbys for semi-betaing and also cheerleading and thanks to you ALL for reading and leaving me comments. You truly cheer me, even on the worst of days.

Despite being ninety-nine percent sure that Benny would indeed make his promised appearance, Cas was still immeasurably relieved when his large friend finally arrived. He really hadn’t been looking forward to getting punched in the face or stomach or anywhere else, if Benny was late or failed to show at all. He hadn’t seen him when they’d arrived, which had been the point, but for a full minute or more, Cas had been afraid.

“Gonna use that pretty white smile of yours to clean the tile in the bathrooms, Dick. Really get out all the scum. Bet it’ll work on those friends of yours too!”

Dick’s smile was nowhere in evidence. He was obviously petrified. His goons were no match for Benny’s in a fair fight. And Benny’s gang wasn’t known for adhering to rules. The weapons they were slapping their palms with had Dick looking like he might wet himself. Cas thought Benny had things well in hand, so he figured it was time to make an exit.

Before Cas and Meg could take off, though, Benny pulled him aside for a quick chat.

“Don’t worry, Cas. I won’t hurt him. Not really. Rough him up a little, sure. And probably make him cry. A lot.” He grinned. “But no lasting physical damage. Psychological I can’t speak to.” He winked and walked away.

Cas grinned after him, then took Meg’s arm and led her to the door. When they stepped out onto the porch, the first thing he saw was Dean, standing in the driveway looking a little lost. Cas wanted nothing more than to wrap him in his arms and tell him it was all going to be all right. Thoughts of having Dean in his arms, though, that led to memories of that kiss.

He swallowed hard and turned to Meg, to find her looking at him with her head cocked to the side.

“What?”

“Nothing. Or maybe something. Tell you in a minute.”

Dean walked up, hand outstretched toward Meg for a handshake. “Nice hit, man. Saw it through the patio doors.”

Meg shook his hand and nodded. “Thanks. It felt really good, I gotta say.”

Dean turned his attention back to Cas. “Well, hey, um, I think I’m gonna walk home? My ass is chafing from sitting in this suit all night.” He dug into his pocket and extracted the keys, then pointed his finger very close to Cas’s face. “You scratch her, you die, you got me?” Then he relaxed and smiled a bit, though Cas could tell something wasn’t quite right about it. “You kids have fun.”

As Dean walked away, an ache began deep in Cas’s chest. He was fucking up here and he knew it. He didn’t know what to say to Meg, but he’d have to figure it out. He had to go after Dean. When he turned back to her, she was already looking at him, a knowing smile on her face.

“Guess it’s been a minute, huh?” She shook her head, doing something to her wrist he couldn’t see.

Before he understood what was happening, she was dangling something shiny in front of his face. He had to lean back somewhat to see that it was the bracelet.

“No, you keep it,” Cas said. “I mean, I think you know what I’m about to say, but I want you to have that.”

“Nah. I’m gonna get a job and buy my own,” Meg told him. “This one should go to someone you really care about, you know? I mean, judging by the colors, I’m guessing either he helped pick it out or deep down you knew who you really wanted to be with. And I think you’ve been a little too obsessed with this whole date for it to be the second thing. So go give this to your man, angel.”

“I’m sorry—”

“For what? Reminding me I was a person who deserved better? That I could date someone who didn’t treat me like crap and make me feel even more ashamed of my life than I already was?” She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Tonight was amazing, Cas. I’ll never forget it. But your boy walks pretty fast, so I suggest you head now. I’ll catch a ride with one of Benny’s buddies.”

Her salacious wink said she might still be trading sexual favors for things she needed, but Cas supposed that wasn’t really his business. He hugged her and ran down the driveway as fast as he could. He couldn’t see Dean at first, but he finally spotted him in the distance when he reached the very end of the drive.

“Dean!” he called as he ran that direction. “Dean, wait! _Dean_!” He yelled as loudly as he could on the last call and finally saw Dean turn.

Dean looked angry. He said nothing, but Cas could clearly see shiny tracks on his face, even from this distance. Cas ran toward him, until they were only about three or four yards apart.

“I have something for you, Dean.” He held up the bracelet, looking at Dean with wide eyes.

“... what?” Dean asked, anger fading a little from his face.

“I want you to have this. Well, I mean, you know I bought it for Meg, but she pointed out it should go to someone I actually care about and not someone I just think I care about because I’m trying to fight back against—”

“Cas?”

“Yes?”

“Shut up and try again.”

“I love you, Dean.”

“You... what?” Dean stepped a few feet closer.

“I love you. I know I’ve been kind of slow to figure it out. I don’t know why you’d want me after I’ve been such an asshole, but Dean... I’ve realized tonight that my feelings for you are not platonic in the slightest. I’ve watched you all night and every time, all I could think was how it was you I wanted to be kissing.”

“Why are you so stupid?” Dean asked, rushing forward and pulling Cas into a kiss that put their first one to shame.

When they broke apart, Cas asked, “Does this mean you love me too?”

“Oh, no, I’m not giving in that easy,” Dean said, taking Cas’s hand and leading him back toward where the car was parked. “You made me suffer for _weeks_ while you pined over that Meg chick. You’re gonna have to do better than—”

Cas grabbed Dean by the face and kissed him until they’d both forgotten they’d ever done anything else or that there had ever been a Meg.

“Love you too, Cas,” Dean whispered as he pulled out of the kiss. “Take me home?”

“First let me put this bracelet on you. I can’t believe you picked one that matched our eyes. You really wanted this, didn’t you?”

“Of course I wanted it. Didn’t expect to get it, but I wanted it bad.”

Cas clasped it and stared down at their hands. “My future looks good on you, Dean.”

“Everything looks good on me.” He kissed Cas again. “Bet you’re going to look even better.”

“I think I have enough money left for a hotel suite for the night.”

“I knew I loved you for a reason.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, bbs. Hope to see you soon in another fic. Things are hectic and stressful and scary right now, so my posting will be erratic, at best. But I'm not done with Destiel yet, never fear. And it's not done with me. Nor am I done with you lovely people. ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Leave me kisses if you missed me! ♥♥


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